What Families Need to Know

Measles is extremely contagious, and can be serious, especially for young children and pregnant women.  If your child has measles, please keep them home.

• Measles virus travels through the air. You can get measles if you go near someone who has the virus because the virus stays for up to two hours in the air of a room where a person with measles has been.

• You can catch measles from an infected person as early as four days before they have a rash and for up to four days after the rash appears.

• Almost everyone who has not had the vaccine will get measles if they are exposed to the measles virus.

• Foreign travel or exposure to foreign travelers increases the risk for measles.

• Measles is the deadliest of all childhood rash/fever illnesses.

Measles Symptoms (CDC, 2025)

• High fever (may spike to more than 104° F)

• Cough

• Runny nose

• Red, watery eyes

• After a few days, a rash begins, which usually starts on the face and can s

  pread over the entire body. Measles usually lasts 7 to 10 days.

The best protection against measles is to get vaccinated.