e have, and why in fact they’re telling people not to go to their doctor’s offices if they have concerns about measles."
Instead, health officials urge people with measles symptoms to call ahead to get instructions about how to get treated without infecting others.
"That’s what’s going to keep spreading this more and more," Hornik said. "This number is going to keep going up and up. I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of this yet, unfortunately."
Measles complications can be serious, and sometimes deadly.
“Some people think of measles as just a little rash and fever that clears up in a few days, but measles can cause serious health complications, especially in children younger than 5 years of age," said Luanne Thomas Ewald, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Michigan and chairperson of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association’s Council on Children’s Health in a statement earlier this week announcing that 11 Michigan hospital systems that are part of the Council on Children's Health are urging parents to vaccinate their children.
Complications of measles include ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia and encephalitis (swelling of the brain) that can cause convulsions, deafness or intellectual disability, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 1 in 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death from measles in young children. And 1 or 2 out of every 1,000 kids who contract measles die from it, the CDC reports.
Outbreak hits close to home
That's what is most worrisome to Chris and Emily Zoladz of Rockford, a small town north of Grand Rapids, who have three children.
Their youngest son, 10-month-old Ari, was not vaccinated for measles because the immunization is generally not given to babies younger than 12 months old.
"We've been following the news because ... I'm always keeping tabs on what's happening back home," said Chris Zoladz, who is 37 and grew up in Commerce Township. "I saw the news about the measles outbreak, and noticed it's one, then it's two, then it's five cases and it's eight cases, and every couple days, the numbers are bigger and bigger.
"And it was kind of close to home, you know? It's in Southfield. It's in Oak Park, and then the next thing I know, it's in West Bloomfield at a party store. That's a mile a way from where my brother lives."
Knowing he was bringing his family back to Oakland County for Easter, Zoladz and his wife talked about how they could best protect their baby.
"It was like, we've got two options: We could see if our pediatrician would be willing to vaccinate Ari early or we could just not go home, and that's not a viable option," he said. "We haven't been home since Christmas, and we have a close-knit family. I would definitely hear about it from my extended family if I didn't bring the kids home for Easter."
Adding to the weight of their decision is knowing that one of his relatives doesn't vaccinate her children, he said.
"So it was sort of like that layered on top of the outbreak numbers getting higher and higher and it is pretty close to home — within a mile of where my brother lives and where we will be. ... It was a combination of those three things that made us call the pediatrician's office."
Baby Ari was vaccinated Thursday afternoon — about six weeks before his first birthday.
"The doctor spoke with my wife, and she said, 'These are valid concerns.' She said, 'I completely agree. ... This is within the the CDC's recommendations. The recommendations are that if a baby under 1 is traveling internationally or if they're going to an area where there are confirmed cases of measles, the baby can get the vaccine early.' "
Zoladz said he and his wife aren't alarmists or extreme when it comes to guarding the health of their children, but this outbreak hit too close to home.
"It feels different than the others — especially the proximity to West Bloomfield, and Southfield and Oak Park. I've got family members in those communities and we're going to be there," he said. "And you know what? I can't change the behavior of my family