Chicago's measles flare-up shows why vaccination is essential

Measles are so contagious that if a person catches the infection, nine out of 10 people around him or her will end up infected, too, if they aren't protected through vaccination, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Not only is measles highly contagious, the respiratory virus can be serious in both children and adults, with potential complications including pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain, which can cause convulsions) and hospitalization. All of which explains why the recent outbreak of dozens of cases across the country, including here in Illinois, should be taken seriously.

As of March 7, the CDC reported 45 cases in 17 states, which is dangerously close to the 58 cases in 20 states reported for all of 2023.

This is no time for vaccine hesitancy, and especially for any revival of the repeatedly debunked myth/conspiracy theory that the measles vaccine causes autism.

Here in Chicago, seven out of the eight recent confirmed measles cases have been identified in the Halsted Street migrant shelter in Pilsen. That's the same shelter where a 5-year-old boy became ill and died from sepsis in December.

So far, there have been no fatalities tied to the outbreak. But there's always the risk the disease could potentially spread further, especially at the shelter, where residents are living in close quarters. Just one cough or a sneeze could lead to more cases there than the five adults and two children who were afflicted.

CDC experts arrived in Chicago earlier this week to help public health officials mitigate the disease, which is a good sign.

The city's public health department, which reported its first measles case since 2019 last week, had already jumped into action after the subsequent cases turned up at the Halsted Street shelter. More than 900 residents were vaccinated there over the weekend, and the health department has started vaccinating anyone without immunity at the new arrival landing zone and sending staffers to other shelters to vaccinate more migrants.

Hopefully, with this aggressive action and the CDC's additional assistance, the measles flare-up can be contained.

But Chicagoans who might be tempted to brush off the measles threat as a mostly "migrant problem" should think twice.

While most Chicagoans and Illinois residents are protected through routine childhood immunizations, an increasing number of children aren't receiving the MMR (combined measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, which is up to 97% effective against the disease.

As we pointed out last month, the number of under-vaccinated schools — schools in which vaccination rates were lower than the 95% recommended by the CDC — jumped 77%, from 497 in 2019 to 882 by the start of the 2022 school year, a CBS 2 analysis of data from the Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Public Schools found.

Parents, take note: The MMR vaccine is available at clinics, medical provider's offices and pharmacies, and children 6 months and older can get vaccinated.

Children younger than 5 are among the groups most likely to suffer complications from the disease, including ear infections, diarrhea and other more severe complications. The measles virus can also create a form of "immune amnesia" that can leave children at an increased risk of illness from other diseases in the future, studies have shown.

"A measles infection is playing Russian roulette with a child's immune system," according to Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Mina was the lead author of a 2019 study that found long-term damage to the immune systems of children who were infected with measles.

Getting a jab to keep others safe isn't too much to ask. Vaccination is Chicago's best shot at keep the measles at bay.

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