Friday March 4, 2011
PITTSFIELD — Massachusetts health officials suspect they’ve identified a possible fifth case of measles in the state, and Berkshire health professionals say the county is at the ready should the highly contagious disease show up locally.
“We saw it with H1N1 [bird flu], which made it through from Mexico,” said James Wilusz of the Pittsfield Board of Health. “It doesn’t take long to get to a state of pandemic. There’s always a possibility [for the disease to reach the Berkshires], which is why we always preach prevention.”
Measles has been rarely seen in the United States in half a century. Doctors have been giving vaccinations for the disease since the late 1950s, and students are required to get two vaccinations before beginning school. Older Americans carry the antibodies from when the disease was more widely prevalent.
An employee of the French Consulate in Boston brought measles back to Massachusetts in January, the only confirmed case of the disease. since then, an additional four people in the state have been identified as having measles-like symptoms, the latest being a University of Massachusetts Boston professor.
Local officials are wary, but aren’t predicting an immediate threat here.
“Do I think it’s going to make it out here? I think the likelihood is very low,” said Dr. Philip Adamo, saying that the geographic distance mitigates much of the threat. “But if somebody in the Berkshires was in the same building as the [original patient], or rode the T when this woman did and they weren’t vaccinated, that would be the perfect storm.”
According to Adamo, measles is a condition that travels through airborne contact, including sneezing, coughing or breathing on other people. the main symptoms of the disease include fever, rashes, pinkeye, watery eyes, cough and white spots inside the mouth.
If left untreated, measles can lead to life-threatening respiratory and neurological conditions, including pneumonia, brain swelling and death. He said that with the U.S.’s history of vaccination, the most vulnerable people would be foreign-born residents, who might not have received one or both shots.
“This is a good way to educate people,” Adamo said. “It’s a very safe vaccine, so people shouldn’t worry about that.”
Wilusz said that with the county’s preparation for H1N1 and its connections with the federal government, the framework is in place to treat mass numbers if measles did somehow spread throughout the county.
When H1N1 was at its peak, Wilusz worked with the Berkshire Sheriff’s Department and the local school systems to divide the county into three coalitions.
These coalitions would then dispense vaccines or immune system-boosting treatments such as Immune Globulin, in the event someone was exposed.
“We always try to be as prepared as we possibly can — the board and I are in constant communication with emergency dispenser site plans, pandemic plans, continuation of operation plans,” Wilusz said. “We’re always doing our best to stay ahead of the curve.”