Oconto County Sign (PC: Fox 11 Online)
OCONTO COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Health is top of mind for many families in Oconto County as students head back to school amid a spread of measles cases in the area.
Wednesday marks one month since Oconto County became the first in Wisconsin to report cases of measles. It had nine then. That number is now at 24, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
“I had measles and it wasn’t fun,” said 72-year-old Sharon Volrath of Oconto. “Of course, that was many years ago, but my parents even took me to the hospital because they couldn’t handle it themselves. I don’t want to see the kids go through that.”
According to the state health department, all 24 Oconto County cases are people who are not vaccinated. Two people have been hospitalized.
54.2% of the cases are in school-aged children (ages five to 17), compared to 12.5% ages 0-4 years old and 33.3% ages 18 and above.
Dr. Charles Heyka of Bellin Health Oconto Hospital and Medical Center says parents should be alert with sending their children back to school.
“Knowledge is always a key,” said Heyka. “So, first of all, they should be concerned at least to be aware of what the symptoms are.”
Heyka says measles symptoms are very similar to a cold, but the tricky part is they sometimes don’t show up for two to three weeks. A rash, starting on the head, usually arrives about four days after initial symptoms, which can include feeling tired, a cough, runny nose, pink eye and a sore throat that can be severe.
“The issue really goes to trying to get everybody vaccinated,” said Heyka. “If you’ve got that, you’ve got about a 97% insurance that you’re not going to be able to get sick with measles.”
Heyka points out studies have shown people can get measles being in the same room as someone with it, even up to two hours after the infected person had left.
“The kids are going to be the ones that suffer,” said Volrath.
West Texas provides recent hope for ending a measles outbreak. Two weeks ago, health officials in the state declared an outbreak had ended after at least 762 cases and nearly 100 hospitalizations.
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