Dr. Lovette, Delta Health Pediatrics
A topic that has been coming up frequently during my patient visits at Delta Health Pediatrics is measles. As of right now (April 2025), there have been three confirmed cases in Colorado. That may not sound like much, but it’s enough to get parents asking great questions—and for good reason.
Let’s start with what measles actually looks like. It usually starts like a bad cold—high fever, runny nose, cough, and red, watery eyes. Then comes the rash. It starts at the head and moves down the body. The rash shows up a few days after the other symptoms start, and by the time the rash appears, the person has already been spreading the virus for days.
In fact, someone with measles is contagious for 4 days before the rash appears and 4 days after it starts. That means they can spread it without even knowing they have it yet.
Measles is extremely contagious. It spreads through the air when someone coughs or sneezes. And it can stay in the air for up to two hours after that person has left the room. If you’re unvaccinated, there’s a very high chance you’ll catch it—12-18 people who aren’t protected will get measles just by being in the same room as someone who has it.
For most kids, measles will just mean a miserable week or two at home. But in some cases, it can get much more serious. Complications can include things like pneumonia, which is an infection in the lungs, and encephalitis, which is swelling and inflammation of the brain. Both of those can be life-threatening, especially for young kids or babies.
So what can you do? The best protection we have is the MMR vaccine. It protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. Kids usually get two doses—one at 12 months and another around age 4. Right now, health officials haven’t recommended giving the vaccine earlier than normal for our communities. However, if we start seeing cases of measles here, children as young as 6 months who are exposed may need the MMR vaccine or may need other medications like immunoglobulin. We aren’t at that point right now, but local hospitals and clinics are working hard to prepare for that potential.
Vaccination Rates and Herd Immunity
I also want to touch on local vaccination rates, herd immunity and what we can all do to help stop measles in its tracks.
Let’s talk about something that really matters when it comes to preventing measles in our community: herd immunity.
Herd immunity happens when enough people in a community are vaccinated, so the disease can’t spread easily. It helps protect the people who can’t get vaccinated—like babies under 1, or folks with certain health problems. For measles, we need 95% or better of the population vaccinated to get good herd immunity.
Here’s the tough part. In Delta County, our MMR vaccination rate is well below that. We don’t have enough people vaccinated to stop measles from spreading if it shows up here.
That’s why even just a couple of cases in Colorado have me watching things closely. Measles spreads fast, and without strong vaccination coverage, it can move through a community quickly—especially in places with a lot of unvaccinated people.
So what can parents do?
First, check your child’s vaccine record. If they’ve had both MMR shots—one at 12 months and one around 4 years old—they’re well-protected. It doesn’t mean that they have no chance of getting the disease since no vaccine is 100% protective, so even if your child has been vaccinated fully, watch for symptoms of measles for 21 days after any exposure they may have had. If they haven’t had the vaccine yet, and they’re old enough (older than a year), talk to your doctor about getting them caught up.
If your baby is under 1 and too young for the regular vaccine schedule, you can still help protect them. Avoid crowded places if there’s an outbreak. Make sure everyone around them is vaccinated. And if there is an outbreak nearby and infant child has potentially been exposed to measles, your doctor might recommend giving that first MMR dose early—around 6 months old instead of 12.
And remember, it’s not just about your child. Getting your child vaccinated also helps protect kids and others in your community—like those who are too young or too sick to get the shot themselves. Measles in a fetus can cause permanent brain damage, hearing loss, premature and low birth weight, and death so pregnant women and their babies are also at risk if they get measles.
I’ve had a lot of parents ask me if they should get their child vaccinated against measles earlier than a year of age. Right now, there’s no official recommendation to change the vaccine schedule. But if we start seeing measles cases in Western Colorado, health departments will let us know right away what to do and how best to prevent spread of this miserable disease.
So let’s stay alert, talk to our doctors, and make sure our kids—and our communities—are protected.
For more information about measles, visit the Delta County Public Health website: https://www.deltacountyco.gov/8/Public-Health-Services.
To schedule an appointment at Delta Health Pediatrics, call 970.546.4000 or visit deltahealthco.org/delta-health-pediatrics/. More tips, articles and videos from Dr. Lovette can also be found online by joining the Healthy Kids Western Slope Facebook Group at facebook.com/groups/healthykidswesternslope/.