Kansas measles cases climb by 8 and enter 2 more counties
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- The number of measles cases in Kansas has climbed to 32, up eight from last week. For the first time since the outbreak began, one person has been hospitalized.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment says measles is now in eight counties. Finney and Ford are the new counties added this week.
Haskell County has the most cases - eight. Stevens has seven and Kiowa has six. Finney, Ford, Grant, Gray, and Morton counties have one to five cases.
Half of the new measles cases this week are adult patients.
| Age Group | Last week's cases | This week's cases |
| 0-4 | 7 | 10 |
| 5-17 | 15 | 16 |
| 18 or older | 2 | 6 |
The KDHE says 27 of the 32 have never been vaccinated against measles.
| Vaccination classification | Cases |
| Age appropriately vaccinated | 1 |
| Not age appropriately vaccinated | 1 |
| Not vaccinated | 27 |
| Pending verification | 2 |
| Unable to verify | 1 |
Sedgwick County Health Officer Dr. Garold Minns says educating the public is crucial.
"When public health is not being accepted or is not adequate, we see kids getting sick with diseases that should have been eliminated years ago," he said. "Occasionally, some of those kids don't make it. So that's why public health is so important to me, so we can prevent things from happening in southwest Kansas right now, so we don't have more kids getting sick from something that is easily prevented."
Symptoms
Measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5. So far, no Kansas cases have required hospitalization.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, measles is highly contagious. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours.
The KDHE says the first symptoms happen seven to 14 days after exposure. Measles typically begins with a high fever, possibly spiking to more than 104, a cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes.
Tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth two to three days after the symptoms begin.
The measles rash appears three to five days after symptoms begin. Flat red spots appear on the face at the hairline and spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet.
Vaccinations
If you do not know if you are vaccinated against measles, there are a few ways to find out:
- Search the Kansas WebIZ Public Portal at myvaccinerecord.ks.gov,
- Call the Kansas Immunization Program at 877-296-0464 (option 1) during regular business hours,
- Email KDHE Immunization Registry,
- Contact a health care provider to determine if they have received the vaccine, or
- Discuss whether it is appropriate to have a titer blood test done to assess your immunity level.
The KDHE says unvaccinated or under-vaccinated people should consult a health care provider about receiving the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine.
Visit the KDHE website for more information about measles symptoms and prevention and frequently asked questions.