SC doctors warn ‘measles does not respect county borders’ and ‘so contagious’
Doctors are warning parents of the dangers of measles as South Carolina continues to struggle with an outbreak of the highly contagious disease.
South Carolina has recorded close to 1,000 measles cases as of last week, mostly clustered in the Upstate, dating back to the first recorded case last July.
The once common childhood disease had been all but eliminated in the United States by the year 2000 due to a highly effective vaccination program, only for the disease to make a comeback in recent years as vaccine hesitancy has spread through the population.
“The level of concern is through the roof,” said Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a Columbia pediatrician. “I just spent 20 minutes talking with the parents of a 2-month-old about the vaccine who want to get it yesterday.”
The measles vaccine is normally given to children in two rounds, one between the ages of 12 and 15 months and another between the ages of 4 to 6 years. But children as young as six months can get a shot sooner if they are exposed to an outbreak region, a status for which South Carolina now qualifies.
Anna-Katherine Burch, the director of pediatric infectious diseases at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital of the Midlands, has done virtual consultations on measles cases in other parts of the state and has been spreading the word about the importance of parents getting their kids vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Pediatricians are definitely encouraging their patients to get the shot, and in addition I’m encouraging the early booster before the fourth year as well,” Burch said.
Doctors who spoke to The State are encouraging their patients to get the vaccine because measles can spread so easily – the virus can live in a respiratory droplet for up to two hours, and a person can be contagious for four days both before and after they develop the tell-tale rash. Other symptoms include a cough, fever and red watery eyes that might initially be mistaken for a cold or the seasonal flu.
More than an unpleasant days-long illness, the disease can also cause serious long-term health effects.
“Measles can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis, which is swelling around the brain,” said Dr. Lauren Matthews with Lexington Pediatric Practice. “It can also lead to deafness, intellectual disability and even death.”
Because a measles case can compromise a patient’s immune system, you can be at risk of developing a dangerous case of a host of other diseases long after a measles case has cleared up.
“It tricks your body to only produce antibodies against the measles, and your body forgets your immunity to what you’ve seen before,” Burch said. “And we’re talking about 10 and 12-year-olds who are dying from this, not 50-year-olds... That’s just a realistic view of what the measles can be. It’s not just a fever and a rash and a childhood rite of passage.”
While the South Carolina outbreak so far has been confined to the Upstate, and none of the doctors who spoke to The State have seen a measles case in person, that doesn’t mean the disease can’t make its way to the Columbia area.
“Measles does not respect county borders,” Greenhouse said. “The immunization rate here is not high enough, but it is significantly higher than in the Upstate, so it’s not as easy” for the measles outbreak to spread through the Midlands, the pediatrician said.
As the prevalence of childhood diseases like measles have declined, some parents have become less likely to get their children vaccinated. Doctors in the Midlands have had to talk parents out of disproven theories that tie childhood vaccinations to autism that have circulated online. Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now heads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has long criticized the vaccine schedule, and under the Trump administration, the federal government has rolled back some vaccine recommendations.
“We’ve seen families who have vaccinated their children with us previously without any concerns, and now those same families are very vaccine hesitant because of what they hear from folks” in a position of influence, Greenhouse said. “Any parent would be confused.”
Matthews said she’s seen vaccine hesitancy jump after the COVID pandemic, when many felt pressured to get vaccinated against the coronavirus when they weren’t sure whether they should trust the new vaccine yet.
“What I walk my patients through is how we know this is safe, that vaccines are well-studied and that this is the best way to keep your child healthy,” Matthews said.
Of those diagnosed with measles in South Carolina so far, 95% have been unvaccinated. The S.C. Department of Public Health has reported a dramatic spike in requests for the vaccine last month.
Doctors encourage anyone with questions or concerns about the measles to talk them through with a trusted care provider. “Don’t get your medical advice online, on social media,” Greenhouse said.
If you do think you’ve been exposed to measles, doctors ask that you call ahead so that health care providers can be prepared to receive them.
“I really want to emphasize you need to call before you go,” Burch said. “It’s so contagious, doctors want to be sure we’re protecting everyone. We can make special concessions to get you in without exposing anyone else.”
She recommends parents who have questions about measles vaccinations to check the site of the American Academy of Pediatrics for accurate, science-based advice on getting your child vaccinated.
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