So what exactly could happen to you if you contract measles?
The disease killed 110,000 people world wide in 2017, according to the World Health Organization. More than 700 measles cases have been confirmed this year in the U.S., the highest total of confirmed cases in decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Yes, (measles) does have a fever and rash, but there’s many significant complications that could be prevented with vaccines,” said Stephanie Schauer, immunization director at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Health officials say measles can lead to serious complications, such as pneumonia, swelling of the brain and deafness. And things could get even worse than that.
Deadly complications are possible
Measles is a respiratory disease that includes a rash, cough, runny nose, sore throat, red eyes and high fever, Schauer said.
The rash begins with tiny red spots on the head that spread down the rest of the body. About 1 in every 10 people will develop an ear infection, Schauer said.
Pneumonia is another complication that develops in 5 percent of cases, which is the most common cause of death from measles, she said. One or two people out of every 1,000 who contract measles end up dying, she said.
Most of the people who die from measles are children under the age of 5, according to WHO. Young children who are not fully immunized are most at risk of developing measles, according to WHO.
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Infected patients can develop encephalitis, or swelling of the brain, in rare cases, she said. Encephalitis can cause permanent damage, including deafness or developing intellectual disability, she said.
A person who develops measles should immediately call the hospital to warn health care providers about the disease, Schauer said. The health care facility will need to prepare so other people are not infected when the infected patient arrives, she said.
Infected people should also completely cut themselves off from contact with all other people, she said.
“Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans,” Schauer said.
If one person is infected, nine out of 10 people can get infected around that person if they’re not vaccinated, she said.
“You can catch measles by being in a room where a person with measles has been for up to two hours after that person leaves,” Schauer said. “It stays airborne for up two hours.”
If an infant who is too young to receive the measles vaccine was in a room with a person who is infected, there’s a high chance the infant would develop measles, Schauer said.
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Vaccines: Are there any risks?
There are risks associated with vaccines, but they are mostly minor, Schauer said. Most people won’t experience any side effects, but if they do, it tends to be mild such as a sore arm, fever or rash, she said.
“There have been hundreds of millions of doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, either given as combined or separate, here in the United States, and the safety record is excellent,” Schauer said.
There are more and more severe risks associated with developing measles than there are with getting the vaccine, Schauer said.
Parents should absolutely vaccine their children, she said.
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Herd immunity can stop measles
If enough of a percentage of the population is vaccinated against a disease, herd immunity can be achieved and the disease won’t have anywhere to go and cause epidemics.
Measles has a high threshold of 95 percent to achieve herd immunity, Schauer said. That means 95 percent of people in a community need to be vaccinated to protect from an epidemic.
A less contagious disease like polio has a herd immunity threshold of 80 to 85 percent, according to the CDC.
Herd immunity protects people who cannot get vaccinated, such as children under the age of one or immunocompromised people.
Children typically receive their first dose after their first birthday since the MMR vaccine is ineffective due to antibodies in their system, according to the CDC. The second dose is usually given around kindergarten.
Immunocompromised people have weakened immune systems due to an illness that prevent them from receiving a vaccine. These people heavily rely on herd immunity to not contract diseases like measles, Schauer said.
If you have questions about whether or not you’re fully immunized, please call your health care provider.
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This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Brain swelling, deafness and death: What can happen if you contract measles