Health officials announce 1st confirmed measles case in Mass. resident since 2020

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday announced the state’s first confirmed case of measles since 2020.

An adult resident from Worcester County who recently traveled internationally was diagnosed with measles in early July, according to health officials.

People who may have been exposed to measles from this case have already been contacted and provided appropriate public health recommendations.

“Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased worldwide, including here in the United States and neighboring states in New England,” Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said in a statement. “Cases of measles have been reported in 30 states since the beginning of last year, mostly in people and communities who are unvaccinated. Vaccination is the best way to protect against measles.”

“Measles is one of those viruses that seems to come out of a movie,” said Vandana Madhavan, MD, MPH, clinical director of pediatric infectious disease at Massachusetts General Hospital. “It’s really important when there’s even a single case, to document where that patient has been and where that patient has spent time.”

Madhavan also said if someone with measles walked into a room and exhaled, the area would still be infectious two hours later.

Infectious Disease specialist Mireya Wessolossky. MD hasn’t seen a case of measles in 30 years. That’s ever since she came to the United States for medical training. But she’s seen it elsewhere,

“I’m from Venezuela. That’s where I have experience with measles,” said Wessolossky, who practices medicine at UMass Memorial Medical Center. “And it’s something I would not want any kids to suffer. Kids are very sick. They have a rash, they have a runny nose and they cough and they can have pneumonia.”

In some cases, measles can infect the eyes and even cause blindness, said Madhavan. And one potentially fatal complication is encephalitis — an inflammation of the brain.

“Yes, it was a routine childhood illness,” she said. “But routine doesn’t mean mild or something that everyone survived.”

Last week, health officials announced a measles case linked to international travel involving a New Hampshire resident .

In late June, Massachusetts alerted residents of a visitor infected with measles who traveled through Boston to Amsterdam using public transportation.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of July 11, a total of 167 measles cases have been reported across the United States in 2024. The majority were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status, officials noted.

Massachusetts health officials are now urging anyone who doesn’t know their measles immunization status to contact their healthcare provider to get vaccinated with at least one dose of the MMR vaccine.

“It’s definitely something that stresses me out,” said Madhavan. “We can’t rely on other people having enough protection and hoping there isn’t an outbreak.”

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