Five Chicago Babies Have Measles

Five babies at a Chicago daycare center have been diagnosed with measles, Illinois health officials said. Officials are investigating the measles cases at KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine, according to a statement from the Illinois and Cook County health departments.

Two of the babies are confirmed with lab tests and three are confirmed based on symptoms. All the children are under one year old and would not have taken the routine measles vaccination, MMR, the first dose of which begins at 12 months and the second dose is given between four and six years.

The source of the infection was not known, but the new cases add to the outbreak of the disease across the United States. More than 100 people have been infected with measles, many tracing the outbreak that began in the Disneyland theme part in Anaheim, California in December 2014. The new outbreak underscores the need for people who are eligible for the vaccine to make sure that they are vaccinated. One adult was recently diagnosed with measles in Illinois. Health officials added that certain individuals are not eligible for the vaccine because of their medical condition or age.

The KinderCare center is closed to unvaccinated children and staff who may have been exposed to the virus until Feb 24. The center was given a deep clean after the detection.

Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that causes fever, red and sore eyes, runny nose, cough and rash. It could be fatal. The disease was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after decades of childhood vaccine efforts. This outbreak has renewed a debate over the anti-vaccination movement in which the potential side effects of vaccines led some parent to not inoculate their babies. In 2014, the United States reported 644 cases of the disease from 27 states.

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