The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) was alerted to a five-year-old child who contracted the measles while traveling out of the United States.
The child did not attend daycare or school. The child's siblings have been vaccinated and show no sign of illness.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Karen Landers said measles is a serious viral respiratory illness that lives in the nose and throat mucus of infected people. It spreads when people breathe in or have contact with virus-infected fluid and can pass through droplets sprayed into the air when someone with measles sneezes or coughs. Symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days later.
“Measles follows a pattern in which the child first develops fever, cough, runny nose, and watery/red eyes, then a rash develops," she explained. "Persons can start spreading the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, and those with weak immune systems can spread the measles virus longer.”
No specific antiviral drug is available to treat measles. Fluid and rest are recommended.
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