Health officials are reminding Michigan residents that the measles vaccine is safe after two more people in the state have been diagnosed.
The measles vaccine is recommended for everyone age one and older. Dr. Lea Monday with the Detroit Medical Center says the vaccine is 99% effective.
“It’s from another era and it’s back again because of these cases that happen in these outbreaks,” Monday said. “People don’t really realize that this is a very, very incredibly infectious virus. This virus, we use a number in science called R naught, which is basically the number of people one sick person will infect. And for something like the flu or COVID, it’s a two or three. For measles, it’s 19.”
Monday says the measles still kills many people outside of the U.S. and surviving an infection doesn’t clear you from the possibility of future complications.
They could include fatal brain disorders that set in nearly a decade after being infected with the disease.
