It was one of the scariest moments of my life

When Vincent, Jessica Coletti’s 3-year-old son, stopped having his usual energy last month, she became concerned that there might be a serious issue.

One Saturday in early March, the typically animated boy told his mother, “Mommy, I’m not good.”. Vincent wasn’t moving or talking at all by Monday, according to the Chicago mother of two.

Coletti described her feverish son’s glassy eyes as “looking super empty.”. Vincent also had a rash and red eyes. Even though he had tested positive for Covid-19 at the time, Coletti thought something else didn’t seem right.

Coletti was advised to take the boy to a hospital immediately by the nurse who was the family’s neighbor and stopped by to see how the boy was doing.

Coletti remarked, “It was undoubtedly one of the scarier moments of my life.”.

The 3-year-old child was hospitalized for a few days, and subsequent tests revealed that the child had a highly contagious disease that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had officially “eliminated” from the country years earlier, in 2000.

I got measles, Vincent.

Of the 17 states where measles outbreaks have been reported this year, Coletti resides.

The CDC reports that there have been 125 cases as of April 18. There were only 58 cases in the previous year. The CDC estimates that there are roughly 72 cases in the US annually.

Coletti’s son hadn’t left the nation, but the majority of measles cases in the US occur when a person visits another nation where the virus is still present. He hadn’t even started school yet. The majority of the Chicago cases this year have been linked to a makeshift shelter for migrants, but he hadn’t been staying there either.

Physicians warn that Coletti might never learn how Vincent contracted it.

“The measles is extremely contagious.”. Due to the prolonged transmission of the measles virus, you could be in line at a grocery store with a person who has already contracted the illness and not realize it, according to Dr. Claudia Hoyen, director of pediatric infection control at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. Hoyen didn’t give Coletti’s son any care.

Coletti said that although her son had received a partial vaccination, he had not yet received his second dose due to his young age.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises children to receive their first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine between the ages of 12 and 15 months. Between the ages of 4 and 6, children receive a second vaccination.

There is little doubt that the measles vaccine works well. Measles can be prevented with one dose 93% of the time, and 97% of the time with two. Although it’s rare and usually a milder infection, people who have received vaccinations can still become ill.

Children who are afflicted with measles appear miserable. They don’t feel good at all, according to Hoyen. Nonetheless, she added, Coletti’s son was lucky to be immune to even one vaccination dose. In addition to causing more serious health issues like pneumonia and encephalitis, the measles can be fatal for those who have not received the vaccination.

Especially if he simultaneously contracted measles and COVID-19. It’s a good thing he was vaccinated because I would have been concerned that he might be someone who was predisposed to contract pneumonia given his previous respiratory tract condition, Hoyen said.

Vincent was admitted while physicians performed tests and gave him IV fluids, according to Coletti, who said they had a lengthy wait to be seen at a nearby hospital. Coletti reported that a day later, the boy began to feel better and his rash appeared to disappear, so Vincent was sent home.

However, that was not the last of it. Two days later, Coletti received the call informing him that he had been diagnosed with measles.

Coletti was dealing with more than just a sick child; she was receiving a ton of calls regarding the virus.

Coletti stated that her son’s physician’s office and the Chicago Department of Public Health were the first to call. Her son’s hospital stay was followed by another call from the hospital.

Coletti recalled, “I was like, ‘No, my son is the one who exposed your ER.'” The doctor informed her that her son had contracted the measles in the emergency room.

By the end of the week, her son was feeling better, but because the virus is so contagious, the CDC advises that sick individuals stay in isolation for four days after the rash appears. According to studies, a person can spread the measles to others four days before and four days after developing a rash. Once a measles patient has left the area, the virus can linger in the air for at least two hours.

Coletti was afraid her baby daughter would test positive for the virus because she was too young to receive vaccinations, forcing the entire family to stay at home. She was also informed by the health department that she and her spouse needed to remain at home from work until they could provide documentation of their immunizations and lack of illness.

More than just my son’s illness was the nightmare. Although that was awful, your entire world is affected by it. You cannot report to work. You’re not capable of doing this or that, and you find it unbelievable,” Coletti remarked. You never imagine it will happen to you, but that is exactly what happens when you start fielding calls from people who want to know everything about you, including the last 21 days of your life so they can try to connect you to someone who also has it. Beyond what you might believe. People are unaware of how much work goes into it. “.

Public health agencies make an effort to track down anyone who may have come into contact with a person who tests positive for measles in order to stop the disease from spreading.

Coletti and her husband were eventually found to have been immune to vaccinations through blood testing.

Dr. The chief medical officer and chairman of pediatrics at Advocate Children’s Hospital in the Chicago area, Frank Belmonte, stated that hospital staff has been taking a lot of mitigation measures in response to the recent measles outbreak in the city. 63 cases have been reported in the city so far this year.

Advocate Children’s Hospital uses proactive measures, according to Belmonte. Workers call people who are behind on their vaccinations to encourage them to catch up and look through patient records to find out who is. Additionally, they have conducted community outreach and education programs in multiple languages regarding measles. Additionally, because measles cases had been so uncommon, staff members needed to be trained to identify the symptoms.

“More than anything, we’ve educated our medical community, telling them to recognize the symptoms and know what the rash looks like,” Belmonte added. Many doctors from this generation either never saw a case of measles or only saw it very infrequently. “.

According to Belmonte, his hospital not only contacts anyone who may have been exposed but also devises a plan for those who might become ill when they receive a case.

“We’ve gained a lot of knowledge from Covid about how to handle this and collaborate effectively with our state and local public health authorities, and I believe we’ve applied those strategies to this specific measles situation as well,” Belmonte stated.

Health care systems should be more alert when there are measles cases in the community, according to Hoyen of UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. For instance, hospital employees were aware to inquire about patients’ travel history to Columbus, Ohio, during the measles outbreak there, even though Cleveland had no cases of the disease during the previous summer.

Given how extremely contagious measles is, Hoyen compared it to what Covid was doing to help screen people out.

Although Hoyen is worried about the downward trend in US kindergarten vaccination rates, she believes that increased awareness of the benefits of immunization will result from recent campaigns.

“We need to do everything in our power to educate people that this illness is more serious than a rash; it can cause pneumonia, encephalitis, or even death,” stated Hoyen. “You shouldn’t expose children to this kind of risk. “.

With her partially immunized child, Coletti observed what a “mild” case looked like and declared that she wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

According to Coletti, “it was a lot at once.”.