July 3, 2025 • 4 mins
The second confirmed case of the measles has appeared in Kent County. We spoke with Communications Manager with the Kent County Health Department Christina Anthony on what symptoms to watch out for and how to treat it should you become infected.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we have another confirmed case of measles in Kent County.
This is West Michigan's Morning News. That's Brett but Kita.
I am Steve Kelly and this is West Michigan's Morning News.
Joined by the communications manager of the Kent County Health Department,
Christina Anthony. Thank you so much for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, thanks for having me talk to us a.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Little bit about what you at the county level are
telling residents about this thing. I mean, obviously two is
not an epidemic, but it's something we shouldn't see.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So what's the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, So, I think it's important to remember that this
is something that previous to this year, we hadn't seen
in Kent County since twenty thirteen, so it had been
more than a decade since measles has popped up in
Kent County. Think of this in terms of like fishing, right,
something that everyone in Michigan can get on board with.
If a fish disappeared for ten years and then popped
(00:53):
up again, it would be a pretty big deal, right.
So this is a pretty big deal to us in
public health, and it's something that we really need everyone
to take seriously because there are serious complications connected to measles.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So let's talk about prevention. Obviously, this is something most
of us did when we were kids and didn't even
know it. So where do we stand in Kent County
with that immunization.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, so the best thing that you can do to
protect yourself from measles is going to be to get
vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
It's safe, it's effective, it's been tested since the sixties,
so we know that it's good to go, and it
has the potential to protect you with two doses.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Up to ninety seven percent. So this is really important,
especially ahead of travel, to make sure that you're checking
on your vaccination status, the vaccination status of everyone in
your family, because that's going to be your best line
of defense.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
We've heard about bigger outbreaks in different communities and there
has been pushback when it comes to those kind ofzations,
but we don't see sort of a mass pushback in
Kent County, right.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
You know, tough to say, I think. I think vaccination
rates have not been up to where we want them
to be, and we can always do better to protect
those who are most vulnerable in our community. We're talking
about infants, young children. I mean, this is the trend
that we're seeing in these cases. These are the people
who are becoming infected right, Pregnant people, older adults, those
(02:32):
who are compromised. These are the people we need to
be thinking about. So oftentimes I see in comments, you know,
how does this affect me. I'm twenty something years old,
I'm healthy. Think about other people in your community, in
the community as a whole, and getting that rate to
where we need to be to protect those around us.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Christina, can you take us through symptoms for young parents
that maybe haven't seen this before and they're trying to
protect their kids. I know it can spread easily through
the air. I remember them as kids and people having measles.
But you know, I'm in my early fifties right now.
So what are things that parents should look for if
they think that they might have a measles case?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Sure? So, symptoms from a measles exposure, they're typically going
to begin about a week to two weeks after that exposure,
but they can't surface as late as twenty one days
after exposure. So you want to be monitoring for symptoms
for a while if you know that you've been exposed,
especially but some of these symptoms look like other illnesses.
(03:35):
You have your your fever, but in this case it's
a high fever, so it may spike over one hundred
and four degrees. You're going to have a cough, runny nose, red,
watery eyes. And then here's the telltale signs of measles.
You'll get these tiny white spots in your inner cheeks, gums,
roof of the mouth. That's about two to three days
(03:57):
after the other symptoms begin. And then the rash starts.
This is a red, raised, blotchy rash, usually beginning on
your face and then spreading down to the trunk, arms, legs.
That's about three to five days after those other symptoms begin.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You will have the best conversation about this with your
primary care physician or your kid's pediatrician. We always point
you in that direction. Communications manager with the Kent County
Health Department, Christina Anthony, thanks for your time today.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Thanks for having me
Well, we have another confirmed case of measles in Kent County.
This is West Michigan's Morning News. That's Brett but Kita.
I am Steve Kelly and this is West Michigan's Morning News.
Joined by the communications manager of the Kent County Health Department,
Christina Anthony. Thank you so much for doing this today.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Yeah, thanks for having me talk to us a.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Little bit about what you at the county level are
telling residents about this thing. I mean, obviously two is
not an epidemic, but it's something we shouldn't see.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
So what's the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Yeah, So, I think it's important to remember that this
is something that previous to this year, we hadn't seen
in Kent County since twenty thirteen, so it had been
more than a decade since measles has popped up in
Kent County. Think of this in terms of like fishing, right,
something that everyone in Michigan can get on board with.
If a fish disappeared for ten years and then popped
(00:53):
up again, it would be a pretty big deal, right.
So this is a pretty big deal to us in
public health, and it's something that we really need everyone
to take seriously because there are serious complications connected to measles.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So let's talk about prevention. Obviously, this is something most
of us did when we were kids and didn't even
know it. So where do we stand in Kent County
with that immunization.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, so the best thing that you can do to
protect yourself from measles is going to be to get
vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
It's safe, it's effective, it's been tested since the sixties,
so we know that it's good to go, and it
has the potential to protect you with two doses.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Up to ninety seven percent. So this is really important,
especially ahead of travel, to make sure that you're checking
on your vaccination status, the vaccination status of everyone in
your family, because that's going to be your best line
of defense.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
We've heard about bigger outbreaks in different communities and there
has been pushback when it comes to those kind ofzations,
but we don't see sort of a mass pushback in
Kent County, right.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
You know, tough to say, I think. I think vaccination
rates have not been up to where we want them
to be, and we can always do better to protect
those who are most vulnerable in our community. We're talking
about infants, young children. I mean, this is the trend
that we're seeing in these cases. These are the people
who are becoming infected right, Pregnant people, older adults, those
(02:32):
who are compromised. These are the people we need to
be thinking about. So oftentimes I see in comments, you know,
how does this affect me. I'm twenty something years old,
I'm healthy. Think about other people in your community, in
the community as a whole, and getting that rate to
where we need to be to protect those around us.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Christina, can you take us through symptoms for young parents
that maybe haven't seen this before and they're trying to
protect their kids. I know it can spread easily through
the air. I remember them as kids and people having measles.
But you know, I'm in my early fifties right now.
So what are things that parents should look for if
they think that they might have a measles case?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Sure? So, symptoms from a measles exposure, they're typically going
to begin about a week to two weeks after that exposure,
but they can't surface as late as twenty one days
after exposure. So you want to be monitoring for symptoms
for a while if you know that you've been exposed,
especially but some of these symptoms look like other illnesses.
(03:35):
You have your your fever, but in this case it's
a high fever, so it may spike over one hundred
and four degrees. You're going to have a cough, runny nose, red,
watery eyes. And then here's the telltale signs of measles.
You'll get these tiny white spots in your inner cheeks, gums,
roof of the mouth. That's about two to three days
(03:57):
after the other symptoms begin. And then the rash starts.
This is a red, raised, blotchy rash, usually beginning on
your face and then spreading down to the trunk, arms, legs.
That's about three to five days after those other symptoms begin.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
You will have the best conversation about this with your
primary care physician or your kid's pediatrician. We always point
you in that direction. Communications manager with the Kent County
Health Department, Christina Anthony, thanks for your time today.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Thanks for having me
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