SPARTANBURG, SC — Health officials have confirmed 16 measles cases in South Carolina since July, prompting nearly 140 unvaccinated students to quarantine at home after exposure to the virus.
The highly contagious disease has raised concerns among parents and medical professionals as vaccination rates decline nationwide.
"We're a little cautious knowing a newborn coming into this doesn't have the opportunity to be vaccinated or protected against measles," Emma Gordon, who is expecting her third child in April, told CBS News.
Emma and her husband Chandler are already vaccinated along with their two sons, but remain worried about their upcoming newborn.
Measles spreads through the air and can linger for up to two hours. Symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes and a rash. The virus can cause severe infections, especially in children under 5.
"It's very concerning. We have never had this big of an outbreak, especially in such a short amount of time," said Dr. Ashleigh Gardner, a pediatrician at Parkside Pediatrics in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
According to the CDC, the measles vaccine is safe and effective. Despite this, vaccination rates among kindergarteners have been trending downward in recent years, while measles cases nationwide have reached a more than three-decade high.
Dr. Gardner has noticed changes in parents' attitudes toward vaccination.
"We have...the miscommunications that can happen sometimes lead to a decrease in vaccine rates. And it's our job as doctors in order to help give truth and point them to hopefully having the best medical decision possible," she said.
Health officials report that at least one of the South Carolina cases was linked to a local gym. Symptoms can take one to three weeks to appear, meaning infected people may spread the virus without knowing they're sick.
South Carolina's Department of Public Health is urging parents to vaccinate their children against measles.
"Measles is so contagious that it needs a very, very high level of vaccination in order to achieve that herd immunity. And so if it dips down at all, there's the risk for this highly contagious virus spreading very quickly," Dr. Gardner said.
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