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NEWS NETWORK By Katherine West, RN, BSN, MSEd 14 JUNE 2015 | EMSWORLD.com For More Information Circle 15 on Reader Service Card In the year 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the United States. Now, unfortunately, in 2014–15 it is back. The most recent outbreak to make the news began from December 28, 2014, to February 13, 2015. This outbreak appears to have been started by a traveler who acquired the disease overseas and then visited Disneyland in California, resulting in approximately 114 cases in seven states (California, Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Oregon, Washington and Arizona). By February 27 the numbers had increased to 170 cases in 17 states and the District of Columbia. About 125 cases are related to exposure at Disneyland. Outbreaks in Illinois, Nevada and Washington are not related to the Disneyland outbreak. Your Best Protection If not already protected by having had the disease, get vaccinated. All fire/EMS personnel need to obtain their vaccine records and health history records so they can be reviewed to ascertain who is in need of vaccine for pre-exposure protection. Vaccination for all healthcare providers is recommended by the CDC and that is being enforced by OSHA. Also, the need for vaccine history and the vaccination of unprotected personnel is addressed in the NFPA Standard 1581 (Infection Control). All employers of healthcare providers are required to offer the vaccines free of charge to employees. At this time, employees and volunteers are permitted to decline but must sign a declination form. Declination forms are important as they document that the employer has made the offer to vaccinate. The vaccine is safe and effective. After only one dose of vaccine, a person has a 93% level of protection. This is a two-dose series vaccine and the doses should be administered at least 28 days apart. Two doses yield a 99% protective level. The vaccine administered today is a live-virus vaccine and is combined with vaccines for mumps and rubella (MMR, or measles, mumps, rubella). As this is a live-virus vaccine, women of childbear- ing age are advised not to become pregnant for four weeks after each dose of vaccine. Katherine West, RN, BSN, MSEd, has been working in the field of infection control since 1975. She is an infection control consultant for Infection Control/Emerging Concepts in VA. Measles Updates Katherine West is a featured speaker at EMS World Expo, Sept. 15–19 in Las Vegas. Visit EMSWorldExpo.com. This short excerpt is from an expanded article available online at EMSWorld.com/12072772.