By Eliza Fawcett, Healthbeat, THE CITY 

With measles cases on the rise in the United States, public health experts in New York are encouraging vaccination against the highly contagious virus.

Measles spreads easily and can lead to serious complications, or death, among those who are unvaccinated. New York City has confirmed two cases of measles so far this year, according to Chantal Gomez, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Both cases involved unvaccinated infants, who have since recovered. The cases were unrelated.

In nearby New Jersey, three connected measles cases have been confirmed this year. A significant measles outbreak has also emerged on the Texas-New Mexico border, with more than 200 cases reported as of Friday. Last week, an unvaccinated child in Texas died from measles — the first known measles fatality in a decade — and on Thursday, officials announced the death of an unvaccinated adult with measles in New Mexico.

Dr. Jennifer Duchon, the pediatric hospital epidemiologist and director of antimicrobial stewardship at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, emphasized that measles is preventable through vaccination.

“We don’t need to have measles outbreaks,” she said. “We have a preventative strategy. People don’t need to get sick, and children don’t need to die from this disease.”

Here’s what to know about measles and how to protect yourself and your family.

How contagious is measles?

Measles is far more transmissible than the flu or Covid-19. The virus remains active and contagious in the air or on infected surfaces for up to two hours, according to the World Health Organization.

That means that if someone with measles enters a room of unvaccinated people, everyone would likely become infected, said Dr. Mark Jit, chair and professor of the Department of Global and Environmental Health at the NYU School of Global Public Health.

In the 1950s, before the development of vaccine, nearly all children had measles by the age of 15, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of the three million to four million Americans infected each year, about 400 to 500 people died.

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