Child tests positive for measles in Maine, officials say; state's first case since 2019

Maine health officials say they received a report of a child testing positive for measles, the first such case in the state since 2019.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced in a Friday news release it was notified of a positive measles test result, adding it was awaiting confirmation from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The child, who received a dose of the measles vaccine, is considered to be “infectious out of an abundance of caution,” state health officials said in the release last week. 

The state CDC is working with facilities where the child may have been exposed to the disease so it can inform people who visited those locations to take precautions. The department is advising those people to watch out for symptoms for 21 days after exposure.

Measles has been virtually eliminated in the U.S. for more than 20 years due to mass vaccinations, per the CDC, though dozens of cases are reported every year.

How many measles infections have been reported in 2023?

This year, as of April 28, 10 confirmed cases of measles have been reported in eight jurisdictions, which refer to the 50 states, New York City and Washington, D.C. In 2022, 121 cases were reported six jurisdictions, according to the CDC.

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Measles signs and symptoms

Symptoms of the highly contagious viral disease include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Red and watery eyes
• Rash that spreads from the head down

Symptoms usually appear 7-14 days after exposure. A few days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots called Koplik spots may appear inside the mouth. Three to five days in, a rash can break out on the face and spread to the feet, the CDC says. 

There are no asymptomatic cases of measles. Measles can cause pneumonia, brain swelling and death. The CDC says roughly one to three of every 1,000 children infected with measles die of respiratory and neurologic complications.

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How does measles spread? 

An infected person can spread measles through coughing and sneezing. They can spread the disease to others from four days before a rash appears to four days after, the CDC says. The virus can live for up to two hours on surfaces and in the air. 

“Measles is so contagious that if one person has it, up to 90% of the people close to that person who are not immune will also become infected,” the CDC says.  

Measles largely eliminated since vaccine rollout

The MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is the best prevention for measles, the Maine health department said.

One dose of the vaccine is about 93% effective at preventing the disease, and two doses are about 97% effective, the CDC says.

Before the measles vaccination program started in 1963, about 3 to 4 million people got measles every year in the U.S., and about 500,000 of those cases were reported to the CDC each year.

Of the 500,000 cases, the CDC reported 400 to 500 deaths, nearly 50,000 hospitalizations and 1,000 developed brain swelling.

Since the program started, the vaccine "has led to a greater than 99% reduction in measles cases compared with the pre-vaccine era," the CDC says.