Rockland's measles: Babies under 1 year old and someone age 62 have contracted virus

A third of the people who have contracted measles during the recent Rockland outbreak are under the age of 3. Fifteen are younger than 1 year old.

Three people who contracted measles had been fully vaccinated.

"It happens," said Dr. Debra Blog, the New York State Health Department's director for the Division of Epidemiology. "The vaccine is 97 percent effective, so 3 percent of the time it fails." 

So when measles comes into a community, everyone is vulnerable.

The overwhelming majority, more than 84 percent of cases, are among people with zero immunity, health officials said. That means they haven't had the usual two MMR shots, given at age 18 months and then around age 4, before a kid enters school. 

Rockland's measles tally is at 91, but five more cases in Orange County are counted in these numbers, because they emanated from Rockland, state Health Department officials confirmed. Health officials say the measles cases have shown up in people from infancy to age 62.

This is why the current outbreak remains front-and-center for state health officials, including state Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker. State health officials from Albany and metro regional offices are in Rockland weekly; officials, including Zucker, participate in a daily conference call with Rockland and Orange health officials. 

MEASLES: Rockland officials say 11,100 vaccines given since outbreak started in October

SPRING VALLEY: People in supermarket and nearby stores didn't know about measles exposure

And it's why health officials have taken the unusual step of recommending an early vaccine for babies over 6 months old, even though it means they are telling people who may be resistant to vaccinations to give their child three shots, rather than the standard two.

The Rockland outbreak has been, by far, the largest in the state for decades. "This is huge," said Blog, who has worked in epidemiology for the state for 20 years.

Outreach before outbreak

In this particular outbreak, the early cases are in people who are part of the Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish community around New Square, Monsey and Spring Valley. The Orange County cases, first announced on Nov. 21, were linked to a Rockland visitor to Kiryas Joel. But the measles cases reach beyond those geographical boundaries. 

The concept of a large outbreak here wasn't shocking to New York health officials. They had been preparing for cases as measles spread worldwide. The World Health Organization recently announced that cases of measles rose 30 percent last year. Regions in European countries like Ukraine, Belgium and England and areas in Israel had been hit especially hard, with lower inoculation rates fed by vaccination suspicions. There was also a lack of knowledge about the risks from measles, because it had been largely eliminated.

Especially as the Jewish holidays approached this fall and international travelers would head here for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, the state Health Department started public outreach. 

A radio campaign that targeted New York's Orthodox community was already running when the Rockland outbreak began. Health officials were notified of four separate exposures among sick travelers from Israel. The first Rockland case was reported around Oct. 1.

The radio campaign quickly shifted to include: "Measles is in your community."

The state produced 45,000 door hangers, with English on one side and Yiddish on the other, to place on doorknobs in communities with ZIP codes having the most exposures. They have placed notices in Jewish publications. The information is now going out in Spanish and Kreyol as well, because every community could be impacted.

"Our message is being heard," said Adrienne Mazeau, the state Health Department's deputy director of the Office of Public Health, during a conference call with Albany officials on Wednesday. "We have had over 11,000 kids being vaccinated."

So far, some 11,100 doses of the MMR vaccine have been given through county-offered vaccine clinics like one held on Tuesday afternoon at the Palisades Center, which vaccinated 47 people, as well as health centers and local pediatricians' offices. 

As the state continues to work with Rockland and Orange County health officials, their overall message is clear: Measles does not discriminate.

Nancy Cutler is an Engagement Editor. Twitter: @nancyrockland