Feb 6, 2015 By Jenny Wagner for The 4 min read

Amid growing concerns about the measles outbreak that has sickened more than 100 children across the country, including one in Pennsylvania, public health officials and physicians are emphasizing the importance of vaccinations in stopping the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the outbreak is believed to have started after someone from another country visited Disneyland in December while they were infected with measles. Cases have since spread to more than 14 states, according to the CDC, with most occurring among unvaccinated people.

During a conference call with reporters this week, Acting Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said measles is a highly contagious, potentially serious illness, but it can be prevented with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Levine and others on the call stressed that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective, despite misinformation from a 1998 study by British doctor Andrew Jeremy Wakefield about a link to autism.

“We want the public to understand that the study was proven to be fraudulent, that the data was falsified,” Levine said.

The vaccine is given in two doses when a child reaches 12 months and again between ages 4 and 6. Levine said it is about 93 percent effective after one dose and 97 percent effective after two doses.

Dr. John Goldman, a Harrisburg-based infectious disease specialist and a Pennsylvania Medical Society member, said during the call that if vaccination rates were higher, the virus would not have been able to spread the way it has.

“Measles is so contagious that in order to stop the spread of measles in a population, you typically need immunity rates that are about 95 percent,” he said.

Of people who get measles in the United States, 1 or 2 in 1,000 will die, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

While measles was declared to be eliminated in the United States in 2000, it still occurs in many other parts of the world and can lead to outbreaks here if people are not vaccinated, Goldman said.

“So, from my perspective, this was a completely preventable outbreak, and it’s really a result of people choosing not to get themselves or their children vaccinated,” he said.

The regulations surrounding vaccinations differ from state to state, said Dr. Tibisay Villalobos of the Pennsylvania chapter of the AAP and a pediatric infectious disease specialist in the Lehigh Valley.

In Pennsylvania, schoolchildren must be vaccinated, though parents can claim exemptions for medical and religious beliefs. Some other states also allow exemptions for philosophical beliefs, she noted.

Dr. Karen Rizzo, president of the state medical society, said that as of 2013-14, MMR vaccination rates in the state were high among seventh-graders — about 96 percent — but lower among kindergartners — about 86 percent.

Villalobos said that in addition to working to unifying regulations, physicians also must try to educate parents and families on the importance of vaccinating children, even if they are reluctant.

“I don’t think it’s impossible to change the minds of people who don’t want to vaccinate,” she said.

Goldman agreed.

“One of the things I do think that people should consider is there are people who either can’t get the vaccine because their immune system isn’t working or simply they’re too young. … When you make a decision not to vaccinate your child, you’re not only putting your child at risk, but if your child gets infected, you will put those kids at risk,” he said.

Villalobos said physicians also must be aware of the symptoms of measles — especially if they have never seen the illness, and during this time of year when the signs could easily be mistaken for influenza.

“The worst nightmare that you can encounter is a child with measles sitting in a waiting room with a lot of other children who are not vaccinated,” she said.

It is a very contagious virus and can even be transmitted before symptoms are obvious, Goldman noted.

“You can literally get measles by walking by a room where someone has had measles,” he said.

The state Department of Health has been holding vaccination clinics in Cumberland County, where Pennsylvania’s only case was confirmed, in an effort to reduce the risk of measles elsewhere.