Measles in paradise: At least one Hawaii resident is infected with the disease after visiting another state
- The Hawaii health department confirmed Tuesday that at least one resident of the state has contracted measles
- Officials note the case is Hawaiian on a technicality because the person contracted the disease elsewhere
- This is the first confirmed case in the state
- Measles cases have now been confirmed amount 1,234 people in 31 states
At least one Hawaii resident has contracted measles, state officials revealed Tuesday.
This is the first case confirmed in the state, and the health department says there have been no in-state transmissions.
Instead, the unidentified individual reportedly traveled to another state that had been struck by a measles outbreak.
With the addition of Hawaii, measles cases have now been confirmed in 32 states, sickening 1,234 people.
Although the New York outbreak – which accounted for 75 percent of all cases in the US – was declared over this week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials have said this year’s outbreak threatens the nation’s ‘elimination’ status.
Hawaii confirmed its first case of measles on Tuesday, bringing the total number of states with cases to 32 – but health officials assure residents that the individual contracted the disease out-of-state and was not contagious by the time they returned to Hawaii (file)
Hawaii health officials are reassuring the state’s residents that the single case identified there is not reason for substantial worry.
An outbreak of measles is defined by the CDC as three or more cases in a given area.
In Hawaii, there is just one isolated incident that was not contracted in-state.
‘The Hawaii resident contracted measles while traveling in another state,’ asserted the health department in a statement.
‘Since the individual is a Hawaii resident, they are officially counted as Hawaii’s case.
‘The individual acquired measles this summer in a state with known measles cases and was no longer infectious before traveling back to Hawaii, so there was no risk of transmission of measles to Hawaii from this particular individual.’
Measles symptoms typically appear within seven and 14 days of exposure to the disease.
The first symptoms – a high fever, sometimes exceeding 104 degrees F, runny nose, cough and water eyes – aren’t terribly distinguishable from the common cold.
The highly-contagious disease is usually first identifiable by the tell-tale red, splotchy rash that appears between three and five days after the first symptoms do.
Measles is transmissible for four days on either side of the rash’s appearance, according to the CDC.
That isn’t a problem for anyone vaccinated against the disease and, if enough people are vaccinated against the disease, even those who are too old, too young or too sick to get the shot are considered protected by ‘herd immunity.’
For a population to have herd immunity against measles, between 93 and 95 percent of the population needs to be inoculated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The nationwide vaccination rate is hovering dangerously low, with just 91 percent of 19- to 35-month-old children vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).
Statewide, about two percent of school children in Hawaii were unvaccinated as of March, according to an analysis of government data analyzed Civil Beat, a nonprofit news organization in Honolulu.
By the time the infected individual returned to Hawaii, they were not longer contagious, according to the health department.
But, despite the declaration this week that the US’s largest outbreak, in New York has ended, the report of a new case in a new state is a reminder that the risk of measles has not passed.