(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Two more measles cases were reported in Chicago on Wednesday, bringing the outbreak’s confirmed total number of cases to 10, city officials said.
Of the two new cases, both are in children, with one detected at the new arrivals shelter in Pilsen. That brings the total number of measles cases there to eight; two cases are from elsewhere in the city.
The latest tally of measles cases comes as the Chicago Department of Public Health is receiving help from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to manage the outbreak.
Health officials say they have vaccinated nearly 900 people since the weekend, with no refusals. But doctors say it can take two weeks for the vaccine to take full effect.
Doctor Alex Sloboda with the city’s Department of Public Health said the symptoms of measles include coughing, runny nose, red and watery eyes, fever and, of course, the telltale rash.
He said people with measles tend to be contagious four days before the rash stage and four days after.
“If you have no symptoms, you’re not going to be spreading measles.”
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