Lab-confirmed cases of measles are present in Allen County.
For up-to-date nationwide measles outbreak data, click here.
UPCOMING Measles Vaccine Clinics
- Thursday, April 10 • 10 am to 7 pm
- Friday, April 11 • 10 am to 4 pm
- Saturday, April 12 • 9 am to Noon
Clinic Location: 1515 Hobson Road Fort Wayne, IN 46818
Walk-Ins available every day! Save your spot by scheduling your visit online: supershot.org/measles-clinics
- MMR vaccines are available at no cost – no insurance required.
- Children under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian.
Latest Press Release: Click to download
(Updated April 9, 2025)
The Allen County Department of health confirms five additional local cases of measles. This brings the current total of cases in Allen County residents to six.
The additional patients are three unvaccinated minors and two adults with unknown vaccination status. All are recovering. No other identifying information about the patients will be released, due to state and federal privacy concerns.
These confirmations – as with the confirmation Monday of the first case of measles in Allen County this year – come as part of an ongoing investigation being conducted with the Indiana Department of Health. All six cases are connected to each other but at this time there are no known links to outbreaks in other states.
The investigation is ongoing, and additional information will be released when it is available.
Measles VACCINE (MMR)
Measles is highly contagious. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected. The best way to protect against measles is with the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. MMR is safe and effective. Two doses of MMR vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles; one dose is about 93% effective.
For optimal immune response, the MMR vaccine should be administered at the following ages:
First Dose: 12-15 months old
Second Dose: 4-6 years old
For additional MMR vaccine guidance, click here.
MEASLES SYMPTOMS
Seek care immediately! Call your healthcare provider immediately if you think you or your child have been exposed to measles.
Measles isn’t just a rash. Measles can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children.
7-14 days after exposure: first symptoms appear
Early symptoms may resemble the common cold and can include:
- High fever (may spike to more than 104°)
- Cough
- Runny nose (coryza)
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
2–3 days after symptoms begin: Koplik spots
Tiny white spots (Koplik spots) may appear inside the mouth two to three days after symptoms begin.
3–5 days after symptoms begin: measles rash
Measles rash appears 3 to 5 days after the first symptoms. It usually begins as flat red spots that appear on the face at the hairline. They then spread downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs, and feet.
- Small raised bumps may also appear on top of the flat red spots.
- The spots may become joined together as they spread from the head to the rest of the body.
- When the rash appears, a person’s fever may spike to more than 104° Fahrenheit.
Measles Complications
Measles can be serious in all age groups. However, there are several groups that are more likely to suffer from measles complications:
- Children younger than 5 years of age
- Adults older than 20 years of age
- Pregnant women
- People with weakened immune systems, such as from leukemia or HIV infection
Common complications from measles are:
- Ear infections occur in about 1 out of every 10 children with measles.
- Diarrhea is reported in less than 1 out of 10 people with measles.
Some people may suffer from severe complications, such as pneumonia (infection of the lungs) and encephalitis (swelling of the brain). They may need to be hospitalized and could die.
- Hospitalization: About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles is hospitalized.
- Pneumonia: As many as 1 out of every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.
- Encephalitis: About 1 child out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop encephalitis (swelling of the brain). This can lead to convulsions and leave the child deaf or with intellectual disability.
- Death: Nearly 1 to 3 of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.
- Complications during pregnancy: If you are pregnant and have not had the MMR vaccine, measles may cause birth prematurely, or have a low-birth-weight baby.
Long-Term Measles Complications
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) is a very rare, but fatal disease of the central nervous system. It results from a measles virus infection acquired earlier in life.
- SSPE generally develops 7 to 10 years after a person has measles, even though the person seems to have fully recovered from the illness.
- Among people who contracted measles during the resurgence in the United States in 1989 to 1991, 7 to 11 out of every 100,000 were estimated to be at risk for developing SSPE.
- The risk of developing SSPE may be higher for a person who gets measles before they are 2 years of age.
