The following information is from the Texas Department of State Health Commission.

MEASLES INFORMATION AND RESOURCES FOR PARTNERS

Texas Immunization providers and partners, please assist us with spreading the message below to immunization partners and stakeholders regarding available information and resources pertaining to measles:

From December 28, 2014, through January 23, 2015, more than 68 people from eleven states were reported to have measles. Most of these cases are part of a large, ongoing outbreak linked to an amusement park in California. To date, there are currently no cases associated with this outbreak in Texas; however DSHS and CDC urge healthcare professionals to consider measles when evaluating patients with febrile rash and to ask about a patient's recent international travel history and travel to domestic venues frequented by international travelers.

What Should Clinicians Do?

• Ensure all patients are up to date on measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

• Consider measles in patients presenting with febrile rash illness and clinically compatible measles symptoms (cough, coryza, and conjunctivitis), and ask patients about recent international travel or travel to domestic venues frequented by international travelers, as well as a history of measles exposures in their communities.

• Promptly isolate patients with suspected measles to avoid disease transmission and immediately report the suspect measles case to the health department (800-705-8868).

• Obtain specimens for testing from patients with suspected measles, including viral specimens for genotyping, which can help determine the source of the virus. Information about collecting and submitting specimens to the DSHS Laboratory can be found at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/IDCU/disease/measles/Specimen-collection.doc.

Below are additional tools and resources you can use to educate yourself about measles and to raise awareness in your practice:

• CDC has a recent article for parents about measles that you can link to from your consumer-friendly websites: http://www.cdc.gov/features/measles/

• Read the recent Health Advisory from the CDC about measles:http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00376.asp

• View an archived Immunization NetConference (CIINC) from 2014:http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/ciinc/2014-05-22.html

• View a CDC Expert Commentary video on Medscape about measles:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/828508

• For more information, including guidelines for patient evaluation, diagnosis and management, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/

The button and banner will remind clinicians to consider measles diagnosis. They link to CDC’s measles webpage for healthcare professionals. Get these web tools here:http://www.cdc.gov/measles/resources/web-buttons.html.