Long Island measles outbreak unlikely after child tests positive, health officials say
The measles vaccination rate on Long Island should help keep the spread of the disease at bay, health officials say.
This comes after the Suffolk County health department reported one confirmed measles case Tuesday. The Suffolk County health commissioner said the patient is under the age of 5 and unvaccinated.
"The child was discharged home, so the child is doing better," Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said. "The state says it is travel related."
A dozen exposed to measles in Suffolk County, officials estimate
County health officials say they're working with the state's health department to monitor and investigate potential exposure. While they believe 12 people were already exposed, at this moment, they say the virus spreading rapidly is unlikely.
"We have identified where the spread would have occurred, and we don't see any particular issues," Pigott said.
They say the patient was treated at Cohen Children's Medical Center for the virus, cautioning anyone who was at the pediatric emergency department on March 3 or 4 or visited an inpatient child on the Medicine 3 Unit from March 3-6 may have been exposed.
"We are very in-tuned to right when a patient comes to the emergency room, to thinking about measles," said Dr. Lorry Rubin, the head of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Cohen Children's Medical Center.
Doctors concerned for unvaccinated children amid outbreaks
With the virus spreading in other parts of the country, including in New Jersey, health officials say they anticipated it could come to Long Island.
The vaccination rate for Suffolk and Nassau counties is at nearly 82%, and pediatricians are advising parents the shot is safe.
"We are, of course, concerned for all unvaccinated kiddos in this situation," said Dr. Scott Saint-Amour, with RBK Pediatrics.
Health officials say the higher the vaccination rate is, the safer everyone is.
The highly contagious virus recently spread across much of western Texas, where a young child died from the disease.
