Unvaccinated Child Tests Positive for Measles Virus in Florida

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An 8-year-old unvaccinated child from Florida recently tested positive for the measles virus, the Florida Department of Health has confirmed.

Further details about the child’s identity have not been revealed, except that the family resides in Miami-Dade County, reports the Miami Herald.

Unfortunately, this is the second measles case reported in Florida this year. A total of 19 people from nine states — Arizona, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas — had contracted the disease in 2016, as of May 21, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.)

Because the measles virus is highly contagious and spreads through the air through coughing and sneezing, the Florida Department of Health is now working to ensure this most recent case does not result in a deadly outbreak.

“Measles is a very serious disease,” said Florida Surgeon General Dr. Celeste Philip. “The best way to protect yourself and others against measles is to get vaccinated. This case serves as a reminder for all residents to check their immunization records or contact their primary care provider’s office to make sure they are up to date on the measles vaccine, as well as all recommended vaccines.”

According to the CDC, the first signs of measles is a runny nose, fever, cough, red eyes and a sore throat. These symptoms are followed by a rash that spreads over the body. A child can contract measles by simply being in a room where a person with measles has been, up to two hours after that person has left. In fact, an infected person can spread measles to others from four days before developing the measles rash through four days afterward.

So how can parents protect kids from the highly-contagious measles virus?

Making sure children receive all vaccinations on the recommended schedule is the most important way parents can protect their kids from potentially serious diseases, such as measles, mumps, whooping cough and more. Specifically, the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot is what keeps kids safe from measles.

Children actually need two doses of the MMR vaccine for optimal protection: The first dose is given between 12 months and 15 months of age, and the second at age 4 years to 6 years.

For more information about measles in children, click here to visit the CDC website.

64 Comments

  1. Patricia Paquin

    June 24, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    You’re surprised?

  2. Nikki Volz

    June 24, 2016 at 5:38 pm

    Poor Florida. It’s having a very bad week!

  3. Crysta Alfonso

    June 24, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Poor baby! ☹️

  4. Melissa Brown

    June 24, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    DUH, really!? IDIOTS

  5. Lisa Holahan

    June 24, 2016 at 6:04 pm

    Poor baby.

  6. Alisha Chapman Sekerak

    June 24, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    Crystal Chapman Moyer

  7. Tiffany Rios

    June 24, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    Poor baby! So unfair to this beautiful baby.

  8. Brooke Benton

    June 24, 2016 at 6:36 pm

    Poor baby

  9. Krissy Lynch

    June 24, 2016 at 6:49 pm

    Ridiculous how parents wont vaccinate there kids but will be suprised when there kids get the deseases jeee i wonder y so sad for that lil one

  10. Anabel V Chavarria

    June 24, 2016 at 6:56 pm

    Christina Venegas Phillips

  11. Marcia Campbell

    June 24, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    THIS IS WHY VACCINATION IS SO IMPORTANT! people amaze me!

  12. Dawn Clark Osborne

    June 24, 2016 at 7:05 pm

    well so it begins….vaccinate your children! dont be blind ,you can prevent this!

    • Karen Earle Lujan

      June 25, 2016 at 4:29 am

      They got it due to the one not vaccinated and you know what the one not vaccinated most certainly got it so much worst because the vaccine doesn’t stop you from getting it…it stops you from getting it bad…if you seen two children with it…one with the vaccine and one without…you would vaccinate your child after seeing how much they suffer because of something that could have been prevented or not so bad.

  13. Katie Yeager

    June 24, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    Right…cause kids just contract measles out of thin air. It’s called shedding from getting a live virus vaccine. Look it up. And if your vaccine works, why are you afraid?

    • Desi Bee

      June 24, 2016 at 7:59 pm

      Wtf is wrong with you??

    • Katie Bethel Holmes

      June 24, 2016 at 8:50 pm

      Measles is spread through droplets in sneezes, coughs, etc.. This is shedding.

      MMR is an attenuated (weakened) live virus vaccine. This means that after injection, the viruses grow and cause a harmless infection in the vaccinated person with very few, if any, symptoms. The person’s immune system fights the infection caused by these weakened viruses and immunity develops.

    • Melanin Monroe

      June 24, 2016 at 10:06 pm

      Boom lol ppl are still sleep!

    • Nisha McNeil

      June 25, 2016 at 2:21 am

      Right

  14. Tanya Elston

    June 24, 2016 at 7:42 pm

    Scary

  15. Grace Viana Gray

    June 24, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    This just pisses me off!!

  16. Alyssia Martinez

    June 24, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    Poor baby prayers

  17. Sharon Rose Faiola McComack

    June 24, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    I’d rather give them the shot and a tylenol/motrin than have my child go through something like this…seriously

  18. Fhersita Quintero-Kno

    June 24, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    Ooommmgggg my baby is not on time to get his shot.. What should I do???

  19. Tianna Richardson

    June 24, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    Justin Richardson

  20. KP Plummie

    June 24, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    NEWS FLASH…vaccinated children can get measles also

    • Rachel Mcmahon

      June 24, 2016 at 9:22 pm

      Yep I did & really bad

    • Nisha McNeil

      June 25, 2016 at 2:20 am

      So why vaccinate

    • Karen Earle Lujan

      June 25, 2016 at 4:21 am

      Because people who get vaccinated doesn’t get it so bad as people not vaccinated. I was vaccinated and still caught it because of someone who wasn’t and believe me…I suffered but the other person was soooo much worst. I should have not felt bad for them because it was their choice not to vaccinate but I did feel sorry for the person.

    • Person

      August 30, 2016 at 9:46 pm

      It says absolutely NOTHING about whether the other 19 children with measles were vaccinated for measles or not. Probably because they were. And they finally found a case of a child who was not vaccinated for measles and had measles. Again… What about the other 19 children? If they had received the vaccine, it no surprise that their vaccination status was not mentioned and this one kid was singled out.

  21. Bryan Kari

    June 24, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    Omg people! read the skewed article closely. ONE unvaccinated child yet 19 got measles. So…were the other 18 unvaccinated? Not likely otherwise they would’ve had it written in lights!
    So out of the 19 that contracted measles, ONE was unvaccinated. Seems like your precious vaccines didn’t work for the other 18.

    • Melanin Monroe

      June 24, 2016 at 10:04 pm

      Let them knooooow!!

    • Jessica Talbott

      June 24, 2016 at 10:08 pm

      It doesn’t say whether the others were unvaccinated. Anyway the one from Texas was also unvaccinated, it was all over our news. Don’t be so aggressive no one attached you or your beliefs

    • Bryan Kari

      June 24, 2016 at 10:12 pm

      Are you kidding me? Lol.

    • Deanna Overgaard

      June 25, 2016 at 2:52 am

      Lmfao please stay inside and don’t come outdoors with your unvaccinated snowflakes

    • Lynsey Haynes

      June 25, 2016 at 9:24 am

      Measles shots has many possible side effects shed for up to 30 days after the shot and doesn’t have lifelong immunity. Unlike contracting measles you stay inside get over it and lifelong immunity. Unvaccinated kids aren’t walking around making everyone sick. I highly doubt people who vaccinate with live virus are staying away from others for 30 days.

    • Jessica Hall

      June 25, 2016 at 3:48 pm

      Lynsey Haynes – so untrue.

    • Ann Mazzy

      June 26, 2016 at 12:46 pm

      Lynsey Haynes where do you get your information from ?

    • Ann Mazzy

      June 26, 2016 at 12:49 pm

      Lynsey Haynes MMR is a live vaccine and based on research, the measles and mumps attenuated viruses do not cause shedding. The rubella virus has been found to rarely shed into breast milk. People DO shed the actual viruses if they are not vaccinated and get sick naturally. Vaccines hold slim to no role in spreading infection by viral shedding. Also please learn the difference between shedding and transmission.

  22. Mary Patricia Hunn

    June 24, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    No child should have to suffer thru the measles. Not to mention that this virus can be a serious danger to pregnant women and their babies! Wake up.

  23. Jenn Bravo

    June 24, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    You can get the measles no matter what….even if you have the shot. -_-

    • Jessica Talbott

      June 24, 2016 at 10:10 pm

      You’re right but it lessons symptoms and does provide some immunity.

  24. Kelly Steever

    June 25, 2016 at 2:40 am

    See what happens when you don’t vaccinate them

    • Brenda Neitzel-Huhndorf

      June 25, 2016 at 12:18 pm

      Some people have serious allergies to vaccines, what they are made of. I feel sorry for this baby, but let’s not call people names without knowing all circumstances

      • WestTXMom

        June 29, 2016 at 3:19 pm

        Some of these anti-vaccine comments are proof of the radical thinking we deal with here in the US. Normally, I wouldn’t support the sensationalized media attention of this case but how are people with unwarranted concerns going to ever see the benefits of vaccines. Even if drug companies are making millions off of vaccines, if your kid contracted a vaccine-preventable illness, and happened to be the 1 in 100 (not actual statistic; some illness have higher/ lower fatality rates; using for comparison) that is maimed or dies from an illness that could’ve been very mild, you’ll get to live the rest of you life seeing how trying to be “different” has stripped life away from someone you were suppose to be protecting. For the ones about to say something about the side effects of the vaccines causing people to not be able to receive any vaccinations, those are usually preventable too. Allergies to the “vaccine” are usually actually allergies to components used to grow/develop the vaccine(eg:growing the virus using eggs, which some people are allergic to), which there are alternatives. There is no evidence supporting vaccines have ANY relationship to autism so drop that squeal; it’s hogwash! However, there’s clear evidence that vaccines prevent illness and have changed the course of history. Many of us wouldn’t be here today if not for the development of vaccines. I think my kid deserves for me to protect them if I have the option. Keep in mind, this article is about measles, one of the leSS severe viruses we vaccinate against.

  25. Marie 'Walsh' Rilea

    June 25, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    I had the measles as a child….so what!

    • Ann Mazzy

      June 26, 2016 at 12:45 pm

      from that link: “From 1956 to 1960, an average of 450 measles-related deaths were reported each year (∼1 death/ 1000 reported cases), compared with an average of 5300 measles-related deaths during 1912–1916 (26 deaths/ 1000 reported cases) [2]. Nevertheless, in the late 1950s, serious complications due to measles remained frequent and costly. As a result of measles virus infections, an average of 150,000 patients had respiratory complications and 4000 patients had encephalitis each year; the latter was associated with a high risk of neurological sequelae and death. These complications and others resulted in an estimated 48,000 persons with measles being hospitalized every year [3]”

    • Marie 'Walsh' Rilea

      June 26, 2016 at 12:47 pm

      I come from a family of 13 children. All if us had the measles no one died. My three children and all their friends all had the measles….no one died.

    • Ann Mazzy

      June 26, 2016 at 1:01 pm

      Marie ‘Walsh’ Rilea Doesn’t mean others did not and can still die from the measles.

    • Ann Mazzy

      June 26, 2016 at 1:06 pm

      Marie ‘Walsh’ Rilea do you understand or know what a logical fallacy is?

  26. Cara Gamble

    June 25, 2016 at 6:24 pm

    If everyone was vaccinated, a lot of these diseases would be eradicated (So I’ve heard)…

  27. Kimberly Dawn Brown

    June 25, 2016 at 6:44 pm

    Clearly no one read the article or is aware that even if you DID receive the vaccine you can still contract measles. One child out of the 19 that had measles was not vaccinated. The other 18 likely were.

  28. Roetilli Celine da Silva

    June 25, 2016 at 11:20 pm

    Stupid parents putting other children life’s at risk

  29. Judith Sansweet

    June 26, 2016 at 1:45 pm

    I’d be curious to know what percentage of the US population born before 1965 had the “deadly diseases” such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox and are living healthy lives today — without ever being vaccinated. . . and what the incidence of autism is in that population.

  30. Megan

    June 26, 2016 at 6:12 pm

    Thank you Jay

  31. Lisa Silva

    June 26, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    LOL

  32. Vallorie Scott

    June 26, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    Measles isn’t a big deal..we used to all get together when one kid got so we would all get it and have it over with. There are much more important things to worry about than a normal childhood virus….get over it and quit frightening people. It’s all about the drug companies making money by injecting your child with a disease…..

  33. Joe

    June 27, 2016 at 12:28 am

    Long before vaccines, people lived with what we would call Autism today. If vaccines caused Autism, how did Prince John, the Queen’s uncle get it? How did Nikolai Tesla get it?

    People that argue against vaccines should be herded up on a deserted island and not allowed to interact with babies and immunosuppressed people.

    Blind followers of a doctor that has lost his medical license, admitted that he made up the study that showed a link between vaccines and Autism. The man’s life is in ruins because of his fraud. At least no one here has used the word thimerosal (yet).

    In our lifetime, no one will ever cure any disease. We can’t cure a cold, we can’t cure cancer and we can’t cure diabetes. Our only hope is disease prevention and too many people are willfully stupid when it comes to vaccines.

    He’s had his license revoked, he’s admitted to making the results up, yet his followers still mention thimerosal,

  34. Emah

    June 27, 2016 at 2:19 am

    The MMR vaccine is not necessary and is harmful regardless of what doctors say.

  35. Lilo

    June 27, 2016 at 8:43 pm

    It is serious to infants younger than 12 months who cannot get vaccinated yet, pregnant women and elderly

  36. Track Johnson

    June 28, 2016 at 1:21 am

    Well let’s see; before vaccinations and in countries where there are no vaccines like India children and adult alike have severe malformations like cleft palate and crooked legs so they cant walk from polio and these diseases were an epidemic, so yea I can see why it was totally stupid to create vaccines to protect people from having birth defects and dieing smh!!!! I WILL continue to vaccinate my children and will MOST CERTAINLY demand that you keep your unvaccinated kids away from me and my family.

  37. Tammy

    June 29, 2016 at 2:32 am

    Interesting that most of the people that are speaking against vaccines are also using incorrect grammar. Coincidence?

  38. Tammy

    June 29, 2016 at 2:36 am

    I find it interesting that most of the people that are speaking against vaccines are also using incorrect grammar and spelling. Coincidence?

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