Measles cluster at daycare center the latest cause for concern
Public health officials investigating the recent measles outbreak are trying to determine whether a New Jersey one-year-old has the disease. An Ohio high school student is also being tested. Each could be the first case in their respective states this year.
As it stands now, there are at least 150 cases across 14 states, including Illinois, where five babies from a daycare center in suburban Chicago have the disease, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.
Many of the cases have been linked to an outbreak at Disneyland in California.
The KinderCare Learning Center in Palatine, Illinois, was open Friday, but per guidance from health officials, the center has asked any un-vaccinated children and staff who may have been exposed to the virus to stay home for three weeks -- all in an attempt to keep the highly contagious disease from spreading.
"It's insane. I just feel sorry for the parents who have sick kids right now," KinderCare parent Elizabeth Gharagozlou said.
After five infants, all under the age of one and too young to get the vaccine, were diagnosed with measles, two of the cases were confirmed, and doctors awaited the results of lab tests on the others.
Officials said up to 10 more children may have been exposed.
"This is a highly contagious disease. There will likely be more cases," Cook County Department of Public Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Terry Mason said.
Illinois' first case of measles this year was confirmed last week. It involved an adult male.
"At this time, there is no identified link between these measles cases and the adult case reported in suburban Cook County or the multi-state outbreak of measles associated with Disneyland," Mason said.
The wave of new cases has reignited the debate over child vaccinations. Twenty states allow parents to opt out of inoculations for philosophical reasons.
"I think it's a little disturbing that people have decided not to vaccinate their children or themselves and that these diseases are allowed to spread in the community," Northwestern Pediatrics-Infectious Diseases professor Dr. Tina Tan said.
All five infants who were diagnosed are being cared for at home. Thursday, the advocacy group Autism Speaks weighed in on the vaccine debate, saying, "Vaccines do not cause autism. We urge that all children be fully vaccinated."