Chicago's battle against a measles outbreak seems to be turning a corner, with officials asserting that the pace of new cases is on the downswing. The total number of measles cases in the Windy City has hit 63, an unsettling spike from the usual yearly average. The Chicago Department of Public Health reported the most recent case involved a girl, age unconfirmed but between 5 and 17 years old, disclosed Tuesday.
Linking back to early March when an outbreak was first noticed, a migrant shelter in the Pilsen neighborhood was associated with most cases. The latest developments also include two additional cases found in suburban Cook County, as reported by the county health department. Exposure at a grocery store in south suburban Evergreen Park has been flagged as a potential point of contact, and Cook County health authorities are alerting those who visited the Sam’s Club on April 9 during specific hours may have been exposed to the virus, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Illinois, now with a reported total of 69 measles cases, is accounting for more than half of the nation's measles cases this year, culminating in stark contrast to previous years' figures. The state had seen a hiatus in measles cases in the years preceding, with the last notable count being in 2015. According to Dr. Alfredo Mena Lora, director of infectious diseases at Saint Anthony Hospital in Little Village, despite Chicago's high vaccination rate, the city is experiencing a "unique situation" in light of the outbreak. Public Health Commissioner Olusimbo Ige emphasized that "new arrivals didn't bring measles to Chicago," but underlined that migrants can often be more susceptible due to lower vaccination rates in their countries of origin and the crowded conditions they face in city shelters.
Efforts to contain the viral spread have been robust, with more than 15,000 doses of the measles vaccine administered in the city since the outbreak's initiation on March 7. The majority of these doses were directed toward migrants residing in shelters. Chicago health officials have expressed confidence in their containment strategies, citing the declining number of new infections and the city's aggressive vaccination campaign. "Our tools for measles are pretty strong. This vaccine is very potent. It’s a two-dose vaccine: at one dose, it’s about 90% effective, and then it bumps up above 95% with your second dose," Mena Lora told the Sun-Times.
Health advisories remain in place with officials urging families to be vigilant. Children between the ages of 1 to 5 are advised to be kept home until 21 days after they've received the second dose of the vaccine. For those who cannot be vaccinated, the same isolation period applies following exposure. These preventative measures come as a continuous effort to halt a virus that can present symptoms like fever, cough, runny nose, and watery eyes well after exposure, with a rash emerging between three to five days later. For additional exposure mentions and safety suggestions, health officials have been proactive, hosting over a hundred vaccine clinics and tracking potential risk sites, as detailed in ABC7 Chicago's coverage.
