Missouri Slammed by Measles Outbreak – Dangerous for Children
The measles didn't take long to start spreading in 2024 as Missouri is now among the states being hit hard by an outbreak that is especially dangerous for young children.
The Centers for Disease Control just issued this alert a few days ago for Missouri saying "a total of 35 measles cases were reported by 15 jurisdictions: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington."
Why are measles so dangerous for Missouri children?
The CDC says that measles begin with a cough and runny nose with temperature spikes as high as 104. They say "measles can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children."
There are many groups where measles can develop into serious complications. Those include very young children and babies, adults older than 20, women who are pregnant and/or those with immune systems that have been compromised.
The CDC stats for measles among children are alarming. They say 1 in 20 children who get the measles will develop pneumonia and that is the number one cause of death for kids with measles. They go onto say that "nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die".
Know that measles is contagious and there are cases in Missouri. Hopefully this isn't as big an outbreak as happened back in 2019 when over 1,200 cases of measles was recorded. So far it's only 35 cases and with a bit of awareness and prevention, severe complications can be minimized and hopefully deaths avoided.
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