An outbreak of the measles in rural regions of Texas – exploding from just two cases to nearly 300 and now spreading to Oklahoma, New Mexico and beyond – has caused widespread alarm.

Measles is among the most contagious viral infections and can be extremely dangerous for babies and young children due to its ability to quickly spread from person to person. Humans are the only known hosts for measles.

Measles is a clever virus – it lingers in the air for a couple of hours, even after an infected person leaves the vicinity, and can continue to live on surfaces for a long time, enabling it to spread both through the air and as tiny droplets.

Measles starts off as a severe cold – watery eyes, congestion, coughs, a rash on the back of the cheeks. Unlike infections in which danger has passed by the time a rash appears, a measles rash signals that you are contagious. The window usually begins four days before the rash appears and ends four days after the rash.

As we’ve seen in Texas, measles can spread like wildfire. One in three kids in 1,000 who get measles will pass away due to complications from the viral disease. There’s a reason we vaccinate for it – it’s not just a mild childhood infection we’re talking about here. It can be very serious and even deadly.

To keep measles at bay, we need vaccination rates of 95 percent or higher. When those vaccination rates drop, preventable illnesses like measles – the latter considered eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 thanks to high vaccination rates – begin to make their way back.

The safest way to prevent measles is vaccination with MMR – measles, mumps, and rubella. Because infants and small children are so vulnerable to measles, the first measles MMR vaccination dose is given at 12 to 15 months, and it is very effective – 93 percent. After a second MMR dose is given when a child is between 4 to 6 years old, overall protection then increases to 98 to 99 percent. It’s an extremely effective vaccine. Getting both vaccine doses is the safest way to protect yourself and your family from measles.

Most exposed and at risk are our “littles,” who are too young to be vaccinated. After six months we can give a travel dose of MMR. This dose doesn’t count toward their vaccine series, but it can provide some level of protection. That said, if you have littles age six to 11 months, who won’t be getting their one-year shots anytime soon, and you’re going to be traveling, consider the travel MMR dose. It provides a level of coverage for the measles. We want to travel and experience new places and if there’s a layer of protection we can give our babies, we want to obviously do that.

When we vaccinate per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine schedule, children will have the best antibody response and receive on-time protection. When delaying vaccines or altering the vaccine schedule, it puts the child at risk for infections like we’re now seeing. Vaccines are safe and effective, and we know they save lives. If we want the measles outbreak to stop, we need to vaccinate.

Dr. Beth Garrett is a pediatrician affiliated with Freeman Health System and based at Freeman Children’s Clinic at 1030 McIntosh Circle Drive, Suite 1. The clinic’s number is 417.347.8750.