KS measles outbreak: Do those born in the 1950s and 1960s need an updated vaccine?
After confirming Sedgwick County’s first measles case in eight years, public health officials stressed Wednesday the need to ensure the public is properly vaccinated against the highly contagious virus.
While most people who received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at any point in their life shouldn’t have to worry about contracting the airborne virus, there is one group of people who may want to get an updated shot.
Anyone who got vaccinated between 1957 to 1967 received a vaccine formula that wasn’t as effective as the current one, which is 97% effective in fighting off the virus.
“Anyone born during that time frame can get another vaccine,” Adrienne Byrne, director of the Sedgwick County Health Department, said in a Wednesday news conference regarding the recent case.
Meanwhile, anyone born before 1957 is considered immune to the virus, public health officials said.
“They are considered immune because they either have had measles or were exposed to it,” Byrne said.
Sedgwick County confirmed the case of measles in a news release May 7. The case is in an unvaccinated child, between the ages of 5 and 10, who caught the virus when traveling outside of the county.
It joins more than 40 confirmed cases statewide and more than 900 across the U.S., according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Sedgwick County case also means the area is considered to be experiencing a measles outbreak. With the outbreak designation, infants who are 6 months old, as opposed to 12 months, are now eligible to receive their first dose of the vaccine.
You can either get the measles vaccine from your primary care physician or set up an appointment with the health department, which administers the MMR vaccine at its 2716 W. Central location. Dillons pharmacies also give MMR vaccines seven days a week, no appointment needed. The pharmacies also offer an immunity test for those who are unsure if they’ve been vaccinated.
There is no maximum age to get vaccinated. There just needs to be at least 28 days between the first dose and second dose, Byrne said.
Symptoms of the measles usually begin with a fever, cough, sore throat and a runny nose, but eventually develop into a rash that begins on the face and moves to the neck, chest and back. The measles virus can live in the air up to two hours after the infected person leaves, making it more contagious than many other viruses.
Officials said anyone who visited Carnicerías El Güero grocery store No. 1 at 524 W. 21st St. in Wichita on Tuesday, April 29, between 6:30 and 10 p.m. may have been exposed to the measles and should monitor themselves for symptoms.
Anyone who develops measles symptoms is asked to stay home and call their health care provider so they don’t spread the virus to others. Those who don’t have a primary care physician can contact a community health center in the county. They’re also asked to call the county’s measles line at 316-660-5558.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
