A doctor is explaining the symptoms of Measles after a case was recently confirmed in Polk County.
State officials said the infected person is between 20 and 24 years old, and the case was reported sometime last week.
Doctors in the area said the virus is very contagious and anyone who has it needs to isolate themselves from other people.
“Coughing a lot, eyes are running, and their nose starts running. They also develop this high fever and rash,” said Dr. Paul Banerjee, the Medical Director for Polk County Fire and Rescue and an emergency medicine physician.
“Measles is very contagious, it doesn’t take long to be exposed to somebody with measles to catch it, but then there’s what’s called the incubation period where after exposure, you’re feeling fine for up to 7 to 14 days and then you get sick,” said Dr. Daniel Haight, the vice president of community health at Lakeland Regional and a director of infection prevention.
Haight said the highly infectious disease has been largely controlled in the United States since 2000 with no ongoing outbreaks. The cases that have popped up are brought in, usually by overseas travelers.
Medical experts said the airborne virus causes a rash in the mouth and then those infected will develop a large, blotchy rash all over the body.
“It can be a challenging illness but having the community aware and hopefully just one case, we will keep our fingers crossed,” Haight said.
According to the experts, there is no treatment for Measles. People take medications like Tylenol and Motrin to try and get their temperature down and hydrate a lot.
Those most at-risk are unvaccinated individuals or people with compromised immune systems, Haight said. A person could be susceptible from chronic auto-immune diseases, undergoing cancer treatment or taking medications that impact an individual’s immune system.
“The vaccine is effective and approaches 98% protection,” he said.
The “vast majority” of Polk County Public School students are vaccinated against measles, according to spokesperson Kyle Kennedy. While there are religious and medical exemptions given to the measles vaccination, Kennedy said at least 95% of students are vaccinated. The school district is monitoring the situation.