Immunization begins at 2 months of age and is usually completed before school entry. However, an adult may need one or more doses if traveling to infected countries. The measles virus can be spread very easily. Even being in the same room with a person with measles is enough to catch the disease. Symptoms include a rash, fever, cough and watery eyes.
Measles also can cause pneumonia, brain damage, seizures or death.
Before the vaccine became available, nearly every child developed measles and measles caused hundreds of deaths in the United States every year. Immunization has sharply decreased the number of children getting measles in the U.S. and Illinois. In 1996, there were only three cases of measles reported in the state. The mumps virus causes fever, headaches and swollen salivary glands under the jaw. Mumps also can result in permanent hearing loss.