STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Kids are going back to school with new tennis shoes, pencils and lunchboxes. And it’s possible they’re also going back to school with the measles.

So far, the measles have been reported only in Northern and Eastern Idaho, but officials say cases can multiply quickly.

Officials from the Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) and Panhandle Health District (PHD) announced the third confirmed case of measles in an Idaho resident on Wednesday.

This most recent case is an unvaccinated child in Bonner County. There is currently no known link between the Bonner County case and the Kootenai County case that was announced last week. One other case of measles was detected in Eastern Idaho.

“Without any link between these two confirmed cases in north Idaho or travel outside of their communities, it’s reasonable to suspect that there is more measles circulating,” said Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist and Division of Public Health medical director at DHW. “As we’ve seen with other states around the nation, cases can begin to multiply quickly.”  

Measles is a highly contagious virus and spreads easily through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. The virus can stay in the air two hours after an infected person has left.

Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a distinctive rash. While many recover without problems, measles can lead to serious complications, especially in very young children and people with weakened immune systems. 

“Among measles cases, typically 13% will need hospitalization, and among young children that percent jumps to 21%,” Dr. Hahn said. 

A person is considered immune if they were born before Jan. 1, 1957, have a documented history of laboratory-confirmed measles or have documentation that they received both doses of the MMR vaccine.

While most adults who are not in a high-risk setting for measles transmission can be considered immune with only one dose, those who work in healthcare settings, or plan on traveling internationally, should have two. The measles vaccine is highly effective, and for most people, two childhood doses of vaccine is all they will ever need to protect themselves against measles for their lifetime.  

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/measles/about/index.html.