PORTLAND, Maine — The high-profile outbreak of measles emanating from Disneyland in California has yet to reach Maine, and a Portland clinic and nearby university are hoping they can help prevent that from happening.
The University of New England and Portland Community Health Center partnered to hold a free measles, mumps and rubella vaccine clinic at the center’s Park Avenue location Monday, opening at 1 p.m. and scheduled to last until 7 p.m.
“There’s a measles outbreak nationally, and although we haven’t seen cases in Maine, we know there’s a threat,” said Dora Mills, vice president for clinical affairs at UNE and former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Maine last recorded a case of measles in 1997.
“Maine has one of the highest rates in the country of people who are unvaccinated for philosophical reasons,” she said.
According to federal data, 5.2 percent of Maine children started kindergarten in the 2013-14 school year without having received one or more of the vaccinations recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That represents an increase from 3.9 percent the previous year and gives Maine the country’s fourth highest rate of unvaccinated children.
During the 2013-14 school year, just shy of 90 percent of Maine kindergarteners received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the CDC. Health experts say at least 90 to 95 percent of people must be vaccinated from infectious diseases to protect the entire population.
“Since measles is one of the most contagious illnesses known, preventing an outbreak by making sure people can get updated on their vaccines is the most effective way to minimize measles’ possible impact here in Maine,” said Renee Fay-Leblanc, medical director of the Portland Community Health Center, in a statement.
The measles outbreak in southern California began in December and has since spread to include nearly 150 cases in seven states.
Mills said measles presents as a red rash potentially over a patient’s whole body, and it is accompanied by coughing and a very high fever. She said individuals may be contagious for several days before showing symptoms, and it can spread between two people in different rooms connected by a common ventilation system, making the disease hard to follow.
“It’s risky to wait until an outbreak occurs [to begin vaccinating],” Mills said. “People can be exposed without knowing it.”
Mills said the introduction of a two-shot vaccine for measles came in 1990, so people vaccinated before then may still need a second shot to more completely fortify their immune systems against the disease.
She said people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons — because of immune system deficiencies, for instance — rely on the rest of the population to keep up to date with vaccines to protect them.
The partnership between UNE and Portland Community Health Center also provides vaccinations to the center’s clientele without burdening the center’s staff, while providing university pharmaceutical students hands-on experience.
While most people fully recover from measles, common complications include ear infections. The disease can, in severe cases, lead to pneumonia and swelling of the brain.
Mills said she worked at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles during a measles outbreak in the late 1980s.
“I’ve taken care of people — even children who have died — with measles,” she said. “I don’t know of anyone who has seen measles firsthand and is against the vaccine.
“At very best, it’s one of the most miserable diseases for anyone to endure for one or two weeks,” Mills continued. “But for many, it can be much more dangerous.”
