Measles led to death of Clallam Co. woman; first in US in a dozen years

[swag]

http://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/2015NewsReleases/15119WAMeaslesRelatedDeath

Washington State Department of Health

OLYMPIA - The death of a Clallam County woman this spring was due to an undetected measles infection that was discovered at autopsy.

The woman was most likely exposed to measles at a local medical facility during a recent outbreak in Clallam County. She was there at the same time as a person who later developed a rash and was contagious for measles. The woman had several other health conditions and was on medications that contributed to a suppressed immune system. She didn’t have some of the common symptoms of measles such as a rash, so the infection wasn’t discovered until after her death. The cause of death was pneumonia due to measles.

This tragic situation illustrates the importance of immunizing as many people as possible to provide a high level of community protection against measles. People with compromised immune systems often cannot be vaccinated against measles. Even when vaccinated, they may not have a good immune response when exposed to disease; they may be especially vulnerable to disease outbreaks. Public health officials recommend that everyone who is eligible for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine get vaccinated so they can help protect themselves, their families, and the vulnerable people in their community.

Measles is highly contagious even before the rash starts, and is easily spread when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. If you're not protected, you can get measles just by walking into a room where someone with the disease has been in the past couple of hours.

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[uppityperson]

1. Local articles say she was only 20.

[shenmue]

2. These bastards

[Warpy]

3. Measles pneumonia, measles encephalitis

the disease is a proven killer. It's also most infectious before symptoms appear. A lot of physicians have trouble recognizing Koplik's spots in the mouth, the only warning the disease gives.

Keep your unvaccinated brats home, people.

You're allowed to be morons as long as you keep the diseases to yourselves.

[awoke_in_2003]

5. Give the kooks a few islands to live on...

they should have no contact with the general population. No vaccines? Get the hell out- you are threatening all of us.

[SunSeeker]

4. Yup. But anti-vaxxers will ignore these facts. nt