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Well, good afternoon and thank you for joining us for this media availability on the confirmed case of measles in Wisconsin joining us to answer your questions is Dr Stephanie shower the Wisconsin immunization program manager before we take your questions or a reminder to stay on mute until it is time to ask your question and also because a number of questions today will start with one question and then if we have time we'll start at the beginning again.
And the first question this afternoon belongs to David walbur from the Wisconsin State Journal David.
Thank you. Thank you for holding this briefing.
What can you tell us about the person infected in terms of age range, gender, vaccination status, or whether they traveled outside of Wisconsin, such as to Chicago or other countries.
Yeah, so, you know, due to confidentiality and maintaining privacy of the individual, I'm not able to share specifics, but I can say that it was acquired while traveling domestically.
Thank you. Now we go to Eric gun from Wisconsin examiner Eric.
Thank you for doing this. Can you give us some sense of the general trajectory of measles infections in the state over the last say, you know, five, ten years and reason for spotlighting this particular case today.
Measles has been relatively low in Wisconsin in the last few years. I think in certainly in comparison to pre vaccine era, it is certainly dwarfed last year in 2023.
We had one case and I think this year, you know, nationally, there's been more cases compared to recent and there's been 125 cases nationally in 18 jurisdictions already this year.
And that is really quite a change from the previous year and we have been seeing increases. This really gives us the opportunity to raise awareness and make sure that folks recognize that measles is still out there.
And that we need to ensure that folks are protected against this disease.
Thank you. Now to Sean Kirkby from Wisconsin health news. Sean.
Thanks. Can you say more about how this case was contracted while traveling domestically like did the person travel to Chicago where there is like a news was outbreak right now, or was this contracted within the state.
Yeah, so it was not contracted within the state. It was an individual, as I said, who was traveling domestically. There are a number of different outbreaks that have been going on throughout the US.
And that's about as much as I can share, but it certainly is important to note that as people are traveling, it's important to check their immunization records and make sure they're protected.
There are certain recommendations if you're traveling overseas, you know adults and actually individuals 12 months of age and older should have two doses of measles containing vaccine before they travel internationally.
And even infants six to 11 months of age can receive one dose early.
For those of us who aren't going overseas, it's still important to make sure that you're up to date.
And so checking in with your health care provider or using the Wisconsin immunization registry to make sure that you have the appropriate number of vaccinations is important regardless of where you're traveling.
Thank you. Our next question belongs to Jason from WSC TV and Madison Jason.
Hello, thank you for talking to us. My question is, what is the public risk here about how many people do we think could have been exposed, do we have concerns that this could have reached other people, you know, is there, is there any reason to think there would be further spread.
Yeah, that's a great question. So, as part of the public health response, we do talk with the individual and determine where they've been while they were infectious measles is considered infectious for a total of an individual with measles is considered infectious
for a total of nine days. So, and some of that is before the rash appears and when measles is really recognized and so part of that public health practice is talking with the individual to learn where they've been.
And then public health will work to ensure that people who were exposed are aware and know of the steps that they can take to protect themselves or to watch for symptoms.
We're still currently gathering that information and we'll continue to share that, you know, as that becomes available and is relevant at this point.
So more to come.
Absolutely. Now to Jarrell from WK on WTV and Madison, Jarrell.
Hey, good morning, drill ballad here WKW. I guess my question would be more so focused for individuals who might suspect.
If they believe they might have been exposed to the measles or experiencing symptoms.
What recommendations or advice would you have for those individuals?
Yeah, so, you know, as I said, the public health does work to ensure that if you've been exposed that folks are aware.
If you think you're coming down with measles, we encourage you to phone ahead to your health care provider.
It's important that they know that you're coming ahead of time.
So they can take the proper precautions and that result in additional individuals in that health care facility, whether it's, you know, staff or other patients or visitors are exposed.
So certainly call ahead and talk with someone and then they can make the proper arrangements for you to be evaluated and or testing.
So measles, what to look for is measles starts with a prodromal illness in that people just aren't feeling well.
They may be developing a fever that increases stepwise to as high as 102 or 105.
They can have maybe a cough, a runny nose, maybe some pink eye or conjunctivitis.
And then the rash will come out and the rash will start at the hairline or the forehead and work its way down the body over the next couple of days.
That's really the telltale sign that someone has measles. That's when it's it's most recognizable in comparison to some of the other diseases.
And then that rash will fade and, you know, as I said, after that rash appears, then you've got four more days of being infectious and going forward.
But certainly if someone thinks they've got measles, please reach out to a health care provider. It's very important that this is recognized so that it isn't continued to to be transmitted.
And we know that, you know, up to 30% of cases do have some secondary complications and whether that's diarrhea or ear infections or something more significant and serious.
It is important to quickly identify and certainly stay home if you're feeling sick.
Thank you now to Alex mall from with business.com Alex.
Hi, thanks for taking my question. Stephanie, you mentioned earlier that the measles activity in the state is relatively low compared to the pre vaccine era. Can you just mention how long is that vaccine have been available?
And if you can give any sense of the vaccination rate here in Wisconsin for measles.
So the MMR vaccine is one of the vaccines that's been with us for such a long time. There's good safety and efficacy data.
The vaccine itself was like, you know, we've had measles vaccine in place since 1963 and so it's really been well used and is truly effective.
In terms of the rates that we have for here in Wisconsin, we have been measuring this. And if you look at the receipt of one dose of MMR by two month by 24 months of age.
In 2013, we were at 88.2%.
We've been measured it again or can have continued to measure and we're at 81.6%.
So over those 10 years we've had about a 6% drop and that's been fairly steady across that time period.
Now, we know that there's communities where the rates are higher and where the rates are lower. If you look at our website, we have that data.
It's just been recently updated and you can see some of the variability by county.
But even at its best in terms of being in the high 80s or at that sort of average, it still is a bit too low for measles.
If measles is introduced into a community, that's not a high enough rate to stop the spread.
Measles is one that we need quite high percentage of individuals in the community protected somewhere north of 95% to really prevent an outbreak from starting and taking hold.
So we certainly have room for improvement when it comes to making sure that our communities are protected.
Thank you. Now to Claire Reed from the Milwaukee Journal Center. Claire.
Hi, so I was just wondering when the last time there was a case in the Madison or Dane County area and then when the last time there was one in Wisconsin.
Was that the like Milwaukee Waukesha one or has there been one since.
Yeah, so it.
I cannot speak to when the last one was in Dane County. The last case that we had here in Wisconsin was last fall and that was in the Milwaukee area and we had one case.
Thank you. Now to Rob Menser from Wisconsin public radio.
Hi, thanks for doing this the you talked about the decline in vaccination rates statewide.
You know, should we expect to see more outbreaks as a, you know, as those numbers decline and is the state doing anything to try to reverse that decline.
Yeah, so you know we've certainly seen a decline in vaccination rates through the pandemic and I think there are a few little glimmers of hope that things are rebounding.
But it is still, we still have a fair amount of our portions of our community that are having vaccination rates lower than we'd like. And so, you know, it is an area of concern that should measles get into one of those pockets that we will have spread.
It's one thing to talk about the statewide rate, but what really matters is the vaccination rate of the community that you're living in where you're going to school and work and playing.
That's really important. And so we are working with local tribal and public health departments, as well as healthcare providers and community based organizations to really raise awareness and the importance of vaccination.
These diseases aren't gone. They've been held at bay and perhaps we didn't see as much during the years at the height of the pandemic, but with, you know, more travel with more measles cases occurring overseas.
And as a result, we are seeing actually, you know, one big reason for having many of the cases that we're having here in the US is individuals who are from the US and are not protected and traveling to places where measles is occurring and coming back and introducing
it. And unfortunately, sometimes that gets into a part of the community that that isn't as well vaccinated and then we could see outbreaks. So we're really trying to work with on a variety of different levels, whether it's with a community based organization,
working within the community to talk to people, find out what their concerns are and really address those so that people become confident again and feel that they can get vaccinated and that that's the right thing to do to protect themselves, their children and their community.
So we're really working on a number of different fronts to raise awareness and opportunities like this.
You know, making sure that people know how they can check their immunization record. You can go into the Wisconsin immunization record and look up yours or your children's vaccination record to see if you've got, you know, at least one or two doses of the MMR or the measles,
mumps can rubella containing vaccine. You can always call your doctor too, but that's at least a good place to start if you're trying to think about it over the weekend.
Thank you. And we have enough time to go back around for additional questions or follow ups and we'll begin with David Walberg from the state journal David.
Yeah, thank you. I assume given that your release says this person was working in Rock County that this person is an adult and not a child.
Can you just verify that. And again, what was the vaccination status of this person.
Can you verify it? Yes, based on the working, it is an adult, but I cannot disclose vaccination status. I will say that, you know, if we do look at the national information that for the cases across the nation in 2024 so far is that
1% of the cases either have are not vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination history. So that's weighted pretty heavily towards who is getting measles in this in this particular time is those who are unvaccinated.
And then given the importance you're placing on vaccination. Why aren't you able to answer that question.
What about respect to the individual and their privacy regarding vaccination. But wouldn't that be reported to the CDC along with the case.
That is something that is done. I think, you know, we have to maintain privacy and not really for public knowledge.
We have to respond then to Eric Gunn from Wisconsin examiner Eric.
Eric Gunn. Sorry about that. Yeah.
In terms of the, in terms of the spread that there there has been in less vaccinated areas.
What does it take to sort of change that in a particular area, everybody looked up and saw there in a county that has low vaccination rate and they said, okay, we'll go get vaccinated.
How quickly would that turn around for them. Yeah, so it typically takes about two weeks for the full effects of vaccine to kick in. And so that is fairly quick.
The one nice thing about measles vaccine is that, you know, if given within a very short time period after exposure, it can prevent or reduce the severity of symptoms.
So we do have that ability if someone is, you know, exposed, it hasn't gotten the chance to get vaccinated. It's certainly not the task that we would say people should rely on, but it is good to know that that's there.
That's probably the, the best piece of prevention is doing it well ahead of time, so that you don't contract measles, you know, on your way as you're headed out on your vacation.
That's the last thing you want to do is bring back measles as a souvenir.
Now to Sean Kirkby from Wisconsin health news, Sean.
Thanks.
I noticed that this is a confirmed case of measles. Are there probable cases that you're investigating or have contacts of this individual developed symptoms that you're looking at?
Are there other potential exposures that are already looking at relate to this case.
Yeah, so I will say that just not related to the case that we are, you know, routinely having suspect cases reported to us and we are working with health care providers and local public health to get the appropriate testing and rule them in or out.
With the increased activity throughout the US, you know, people are having febrile rash illnesses and needing to be evaluated. And so this is a routine occurrence for us.
Unfortunately, and most of the time they are ruled out so that that's an ongoing piece of the public health picture in terms of what's happening in the background. And as he said, most of the time turns out not to be measles except when it is.
Sorry, the other part of the question.
Oh, I was just wondering if there were any, you know, probable cases associated with this, any of the close contacts that have developed symptoms that you're looking at and haven't gone to that confirmation phase yet.
Yeah, it's still pretty early on and we are.
We are, you know, working with the local public health agencies to identify contacts sort of as we speak. So more will will come.
It does take on average about 10 to 12 days from the time that someone is exposed till they start to develop some sort of symptoms, but it can range as long as 21 days.
So that's sort of the time period that we are going to be looking for.
Thank you.
No to Jason from WIS CTV in Madison, Jason.
Jason, did you have another question.
Okay, we're going to move on then to Drell from WKW TV. Drell.
Thanks Jennifer Stephanie. I'm wondering if you could possibly touch on just how members of the public might be able to access free vaccines by public health.
If they currently do not have insurance.
Yeah, thanks so much for that question. So we have two programs that are available for individuals who do not have insurance. The first is the vaccines for children program.
And this is a program whereby children who are uninsured or underinsured or Alaska native or American Indian can access the vaccines at no cost through a through a participating provider and most pediatric providers as well as local and tribal health departments are part of this network.
There's no paperwork that they need to fill in. They just need to attest that they are uninsured or if they have Medicaid, they're even eligible for this program and they can receive the routine needed vaccines that they have for adults.
So individuals 19 years of age and older, we have the vaccines for adult program.
And if you look at our website, you can find there's a map that indicates all of the VFA providers. There's about 100 and so of those throughout the states and individuals who are uninsured or underinsured can go ahead and receive vaccine through that network.
Thank you.
Not to Alex Mo from West business. Alex, do you have another question?
No, no follow up. Thank you.
Thank you. Claire Reed from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Have another question as well.
Thank you.
Thank you. Rob Menser from Wisconsin Public Radio Rob.
I am good.
Okay. And with that, we will conclude today's media availability or thanks to Dr. Shower and for all of you for participating.
We will have additional updates for you as they become available, but any questions, any additional questions can be sent to DHS media at DHS. Wisconsin.
Thank you and have a good afternoon.
Recording stopped.