The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has confirmed that a young child has been diagnosed with measles. Currently there is no identified source of the disease and the investigation is ongoing. The child was not vaccinated against measles.
At this time, we have not identified any additional cases, but we are continuing to investigate as we try to determine where and how this patient contracted the disease. We are alerting doctors to be on alert for any patients that might have symptoms associated with measles. What we do know is that the patient was not vaccinated against this highly preventable disease, said Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health and County Health Officer. This is the first childhood case of measles in Los Angeles County since 2002. The child with measles in that year also was not vaccinated and acquired the disease during foreign travel.
Public Health would like to remind parents how important childhood immunizations are to everyone’s health. Because of vaccines, there are very few cases of measles in the United States today. Parents concerned about vaccine safety should speak to their child’s health care provider.
A Note About Vaccine Safety:
Recent media attention regarding vaccines and questions of a possible link to autism has focused on a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal. However,
– According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and other leading medical study groups, thimerosal has never been proven to cause any harm.
– None of the vaccines recommended for children age 6 and under, except for certain doses of inactivated influenza vaccine, contain thimerosal, and have not since 1999. In the state of California, thimerosal-free vaccine must be used in children under the age of three. The measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, along with several other vaccines, has never contained thimerosal.
– Currently available childhood vaccines have an excellent safety record. There is no scientific data to link vaccines to such serious conditions such as autism.