Measles Exposure Causes Family Hardship

Martha Martin is finding herself in a tough situation, having to exhaust all her vacation days to care for her infant son. Unfortunately, it still feels like it won’t be enough.

Her nine-month-old son, Hal, was recently exposed to measles at day care and won’t be able to return for nearly a month. He hasn’t received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which isn’t given until a child turns 1. When Martin has to go back to her job, her husband will have to take several unpaid days off to stay home with their son.

Martin, 26, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, expressed her frustration, saying, “It just makes me so mad that this is happening. It’s scary because my son is not protected, and I’m juggling concerns about child care, my job, and my husband’s job.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarantine period of 28 days is recommended in cases like this.

Since Hal is too young for the vaccine, he required emergency injections of immunoglobulin, or IG, which helps boost the immune system.

Martin described the situation as just a waiting game at this point.

Her family’s worries reflect those of many across the country, as the current number of measles cases has reached levels not seen since the virus was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.

On Wednesday, the CDC confirmed 1,309 measles cases in 39 states, with most cases being among children.

Each case has had the potential to expose hundreds or even thousands of others, especially those too young to be vaccinated, like Hal, or children with compromised immune systems, experts noted.

Dr. Ana Montanez, a pediatrician at Texas Tech Physicians in Lubbock, Texas, has worked with many families affected during the recent measles outbreak in West Texas.

She mentioned, “Many of our families are hard-working but typically lack a month’s salary saved up to manage a situation like this.” Often, these families have not just one job but several to manage.

Cedar Rapids is not currently facing a measles outbreak; in fact, just seven cases have been reported in Iowa this year, marking the first cases since 2019.

Despite that, the Martin family’s experience reflects the wider implications of even a single case of exposure.

Dr. Dustin Arnold, chief medical officer at UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids, emphasized the importance of vaccination, stating, “What’s happening in our town perfectly illustrates why vaccination matters. It just takes one measles case,” he noted, to create a ripple effect.

On Saturday, Arnold oversaw a command center providing IG injections to eight infants exposed to measles at Hal’s day care, with three others redirected to another medical facility for treatment.

IG injections can be administered up to six days after exposure, and a 2021 study revealed that this treatment effectively protects exposed newborns from illness.

However, IG treatments aren’t a long-term solution, according to Dr. Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Children “develop much higher levels of immunity from vaccination compared to immunoglobulin,” she clarified.

The Cedar Rapids IG clinics were organized at the last moment. The infants who received the injections had been exposed six days earlier. Families were notified late on a Friday, and treatments began the following morning.

Arnold expressed concern for infants lacking protection, saying, “We don’t want them to get sick. Measles can be mild, but it can also be life-threatening.”

While the majority of measles patients have recovered, around 13%, or 164 individuals, required hospitalization due to the infection.

This year, three people—two young girls in Texas among them—have died from measles, and a child in England recently succumbed to the virus.