Michigan baby had measles vaccine 1 day before trip to airport with contagious traveler
The 12-month-old girl, who has the first documented measles case in Ingham County since 1994, traveled out of state with her family, but there wasn't enough time between her immunization and her exposure to the virus for the vaccine to fully trigger her immune system and protect her from getting sick, Shoyinka said.
"Usually, what we expect is that our body's immune system ... would have developed full immunity at about a two-week mark" after vaccination, Shoyinka said. "Even though this child was vaccinated, she was still relatively susceptible given the short period of time. However, I will say that this child's symptoms were very mild ... presumably because she had received at least one dose.
"We have been in close contact with the family, who, by the way, have been excellent in providing the information we need about potential exposures, about where they've been," Shoyinka said. "I want to also emphasize that they did exactly what they were supposed to do in terms of making sure that their child was protected as they took her out of state (for) travel.
"This individual is doing well currently and is isolating at home with family."
The girl visited one of the two Michigan airports where a Kent County traveler exposed potentially hundreds of others to measles in late March — Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus and the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Shoyinka said, though she did not specify which airport the child visited or exactly when.
"It's unclear at what point the exposure happened during that trip," she said, noting that health officials are still investigating whether the cases are epidemiologically linked. "We are looking at specimen samples and we have sent them all the way to the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in order to identify matches to figure out where the exposure happened."
The tricky thing about measles is that a person can be infectious and spreading the disease for as many as four days before they develop the telltale rash, and for four days after the rash begins, according to the CDC. And the virus is so contagious that even after a person infected with measles leaves the room, up to two hours later, 90% of people without immunity to the virus will get sick if they enter the room.
The Ingham County Health Department issued a news release April 10 detailing multiple exposure sites in Lansing, East Lansing and Okemos from April 4-8 where the girl went with loved ones while potentially infectious. But the health department did not disclose that the child also attended a Lansing day care/preschool over the course of several days in early April, exposing about 50 other children, along with staff members and other visitors.
"We are matching records with every single child and every single family in there to make sure that we can communicate with them (about) what they need to do" to protect themselves and their children, Shoyinka said of the health department's contact tracing efforts. "If a child was unvaccinated, then we would monitor them for 21 days following the last date of exposure."
The school's name was not publicly disclosed, Shoyinka said, because "we are working closely with the school. ... They have been very cooperative in terms of giving us a list of the students in the school, the staff, the people who have been there. And so the information that we need in order to communicate with the people who are exposed and provide them with the adequate information is available.
"The other places that are listed are places where it is difficult for us to determine exactly who was there during those time frames."
Those other known exposure sites, dates and times are:
Friday, April 4: 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at the Tractor Supply Co., 5241 W. Grand River Ave., Lansing.
Saturday, April 5:
1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. at the Farmers Market inside Meridian Mall, 1982 W. Grand River Ave., Okemos.
2:30 p.m.-6 p.m. at Aldi, 5165 Marsh Road, Okemos.
Sunday, April 6:
10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at Towar Hart Baptist Church, 6157 Towar Ave., East Lansing. The child spent time in the infant room during the service.
5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. at Toscana Restaurant, 3170 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing.
Tuesday, April 8:
6 p.m.-10:30 p.m. in the emergency department of the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow, 1215 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing.
5:30 p.m.-7:35 p.m. at the MSU Community Music School, 4930 Hagadorn Road, East Lansing. The child was in a bathroom at the school.
Health leaders urge anyone who may have been exposed to measles to monitor for symptoms for 21 days after the date of potential exposure. If symptoms develop, call ahead before visiting a doctor, urgent care center, or hospital emergency department to ensure precautions can be taken to avoid exposing others.
The Ingham County child is the fifth person in Michigan to contract the measles this year, the state health department reported, and it comes amid an exploding number of cases in the U.S.
As of April 10, there were 712 confirmed measles cases in the U.S. this year in 24 states — more than double the number of cases nationally in all of 2024, when there were 285, according to the CDC.
Of the cases so far this year, about 70% were among children and teenagers, and 97% were among people who were either unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown.
The other Michigan cases involved include:
An adult from Oakland County who traveled internationally with an unknown vaccination history and was the state's first measles case of 2025. The person exposed others March 8-10 at a restaurant in Rochester and at Henry Ford Rochester Hospital.
A traveler from Kent County who potentially exposed hundreds of other people to measles March 24-28 when visiting Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus and the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, along with a restaurant in Kentwood and a Corewell Health facility in East Grand Rapids.
An adult from Macomb County who traveled to the Windsor-Essex County area of Ontario, Canada. The case was announced April 4, and the person is not believed to have gone out in public while infectious, so there are no known exposure sites.
A Montcalm County resident whose measles case was announced April 9 by the Mid-Michigan District Health Department. The person recently traveled out of the state, but no details were released about possible exposure sites.
"Our recommendation is for everyone to be vaccinated," Shoyinka said.
One dose of the MMR vaccine provides about 93% protection against the virus, and two doses offer about 97% coverage, the CDC says. It recommends the following for MMR vaccines:
A first dose for children at 12 months-15 months old, with a booster dose administered between ages 4 and 6.
Anyone born during or after 1957 without evidence of immunity against measles or documentation of having been vaccinated with two doses of MMR vaccine should get vaccinated. The second dose should be given no sooner than 28 days after the first.
People exposed to measles who cannot document immunity against the virus should get post-exposure prophylaxis — a dose of the vaccine to potentially provide protection within 72 hours of initial exposure, or immunoglobulin within six days of exposure.
The CDC changed its recommendations in 1989 from one dose of the MMR vaccine to two doses, which provides longer-lasting and more robust protection. People born between 1957 and 1989 who have had just a single dose of the vaccine may be at a higher risk of contracting the virus in an outbreak setting.
"We're really encouraging everyone to contact their primary care provider if they're not sure about their vaccination status," Shoyinka said. "If they have received one dose in the past, then we're asking them to get another one. If they have not received any, then they need to start their vaccinations as soon as possible."
As of February, about 83.3% of Ingham County children ages 19 to 35 months had gotten the MMR vaccine, the health department said. That's slightly higher than the statewide average of 80%, but it's still well below the 95% threshold required to protect the most vulnerable people in society from becoming infected with measles through herd immunity, Shoyinka said.
Herd immunity occurs when almost an entire community is immune to an infectious disease, which reduces the risk of spreading the illness to those who are not vaccinated because the virus cannot maintain sustained spread within the population.
"When our numbers are less than that expected herd immunity number, we create a lot of immunity holes, so to speak, where a lot of people are unprotected," Shoyinka said. "And the more unprotected people we have, the higher the chance we have of outbreaks."
According to the CDC, measles symptoms typically start within seven-14 days of exposure, but also have been known to appear as long as 21 days after initial exposure and can include:
Fever, which may rise above 104 degrees.
Respiratory symptoms such as runny nose, cough.
Red, watery eyes that can develop into pink eye or conjunctivitis.
Two to three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots, known as Koplik spots, may develop on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of the mouth.
Three to five days after symptoms begin, a rash that is red, raised and blotchy appears. It usually begins on the face and spreads to the trunk, arms and legs.
Measles can cause serious illness, long-term disability and death in people of all ages.
So far this year, 79 people in the U.S. with confirmed measles cases have been hospitalized for treatment — that's about 11% of the 712 confirmed infections nationally. The vast majority — 65 of the 79 who were hospitalized — were younger than the age of 20, according to the CDC.
About 1 in 20 children with measles develops pneumonia. Roughly 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles infections will also have encephalitis. Brain swelling from encephalitis can lead to convulsions, permanent hearing loss, intellectual disability and death, according to the CDC.
Anywhere from 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children with measles dies from respiratory or neurologic complications from the virus.
People who contract measles during pregnancy also are more likely to develop pneumonia and be hospitalized. The virus can cause miscarriage and stillbirth as well as trigger preterm birth and lead to lower birth weights, according to the CDC.
The CDC has confirmed two deaths from measles in the U.S. this year. A third death remains under investigation.
Ingham County residents can get an MMR vaccine at the health department's immunization clinic, 303 S. Cedar St., Lansing. (Use entrance No. 3 when entering the building and go to the second floor.) Walk in hours are:
9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesdays.
1-4 p.m. Thursdays.
Call the health department at 517-887-4316 or email Immunization@ingham.org to make an appointment.
MMR vaccines also are available through primary care providers and pharmacies.
Medicaid and most private insurance plans cover the MMR vaccine at no cost. Low- to no-cost vaccines also are available at local public health department offices.
Children eligible for the Vaccines for Children program also may receive the vaccine from a provider enrolled in that program at no cost. To learn more, go to: Vaccines for Children (VFC): Information for Parents | CDC.
The Oakland County Health Division offices in Southfield and Pontiac also have MMR vaccines available 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays, and 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays at:
North Oakland Health Center, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Building 34 East, Pontiac.
South Oakland Health Center, 27725 Greenfield Road, Southfield.
In Macomb County, call 586-469-5372 or go to the Immunization Clinics webpage to learn more about vaccination services available.
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com.
Subscribe to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan baby had measles vaccine day before possible airport exposure
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