The Chicago Department of Public Health has successfully vaccinated all eligible individuals at a temporary shelter housing migrants, where a measles outbreak has occurred. This comes as the total number of measles cases in the city of Chicago has reached 10, with two more cases identified in children.
Eight migrants at the shelter have tested positive for measles, including five children and three adults. The shelter, which was not originally designed to house the number of people currently residing there, is now closely monitored by city officials to prevent further spread of the highly contagious disease.
Chicago city officials, alongside medical directors and staff, have been working tirelessly to vaccinate as many people at the shelter as quickly as possible. In response to the emergency outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent a team of experts to Chicago to provide technical guidance and support.
Residents of the shelter are being monitored daily for symptoms, and those immune to measles have been given cards to come and go freely. Non-immune individuals, on the other hand, have been given cards to quarantine at the shelter. The CDC is also focusing on increasing vaccination rates, especially among children, to prevent further measles outbreaks.
Measles, which had been considered eliminated in the US in 2000, is now making a comeback due to declining vaccination rates and increased global measles activity. The situation in Chicago serves as a stark reminder of the importance of vaccination and the need to prevent such outbreaks from escalating further.
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