Central Florida doctor explains signs, symptoms, likely cause for surge in measles
Florida ranks third in U.S. measles cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention February report
AND THIS MORNING MANY PEOPLE THINK THE MEASLES ARE JUST A RASH AND FEVER THAT GO AWAY WITHIN A FEW DAYS. BUT IT’S AN EXTREMELY CONTAGIOUS VIRUS THAT CAN CAUSE SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES, ESPECIALLY IN CHILDREN. JOINING ME NOW THIS MORNING TO SHARE WHAT MAY BE DRIVING A RECENT SPIKE IN CASES HERE IN THE U.S. AND WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR IS EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN DOCTOR RAJIV BALL. DOC, SO GOOD TO SEE YOU. GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK. THANKS. SO HAVE YOU HERE THIS MORNING. OKAY, SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE MEASLES AND WHAT MAY BE CAUSING THE SURGE, JUST FOR, YOU KNOW, A REMINDER OF MEASLES. SO LET’S TAKE A STEP BACK IN HISTORY. SO IN IN THE YEAR 2000, MEASLES WAS CONSIDERED ELIMINATED FROM THE UNITED STATES. HOWEVER, WE’RE STARTING TO SEE THE COMMUNITY IMMUNITY DECREASE BELOW THE 95% THRESHOLD, AND KINDERGARTEN POPULATIONS WERE SEEING THAT NUMBER GO DOWN DRAMATICALLY. AND AS A RESULT, WE’RE SEEING THESE OUTBREAKS ALL THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. OKAY, SO, DOC, MEASLES, WHAT IS IT? IT’S THE RASH, THE FEVER. TAKE ME THROUGH WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. SO A LOT OF THE INITIAL SYMPTOMS ARE GOING TO BE THE SAME. NOW IT’S GOING TO AS, LIKE AN UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTION. COUGH, FEVER, CONGESTION. BUT THERE’S A COUPLE OF UNIQUE FEATURES THAT WE SEE WITH THIS. THE FIRST ONE IS GOING TO BE KOPLIK’S SPOTS, WHICH ARE WHITE SPOTS THAT WE SEE WITHIN THE MOUTH OR THE ORAL CAVITIES. AND THEN THE SECOND ONE IS GOING TO BE A VERY CLASSIC MEASLES LIKE RASH THAT WE SEE THAT OCCURS AT THE TOP OF THE HEAD AND THEN SLOWLY STARTS TO MAKE ITS WAY DOWN THROUGHOUT THE BODY. OKAY. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST MENTIONED HERE, THE SURGE THAT WE’RE SEEING. SO COMPARED TO YEARS PAST, IT WAS REALLY KIND OF A NON-ISSUE. CORRECT. YEAH. SO THIS YEAR WE’RE ACTUALLY SEEING SOME PRETTY ASTONISHING NUMBERS IN LAST YEAR IN ALL OF 2025 TOGETHER WE SAW 2200 CASES. AND THIS YEAR ALONE WE’VE AT THE END OF FEBRUARY. FEBRUARY 26TH, 2026. SO ALREADY IN THE FIRST TWO MONTHS, WE’VE SEEN 50% OF THE CASES THAT WE SAW IN 2025. OKAY, DOCTOR, THOSE NUMBERS ARE WHAT WE’RE SEEING RIGHT NOW IN FLORIDA. THAT’S GOING TO BE NATIONAL NUMBERS. WOW. OKAY. SO WHAT ABOUT THE CASES HERE IN THE STATE. YEAH. SO FLORIDA IS NOT IMMUNE TO THIS EITHER, ESPECIALLY HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA AS WE’RE JUST SO CENTRAL IN THE STATE. 10% OF ALL THE CASES OF MEASLES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES ARE OCCURRING HERE IN FLORIDA. AND SO WITH CENTRAL FLORIDA BEING SO CENTRAL, A NUMBER OF PEOPLE GOING IN AND OUT AND A NUMBER OF TOURISTS THAT ARE COMING AROUND AS WELL, WE’RE STARTING TO WE’RE GOING TO SEE THESE NUMBERS INCREASE. AND THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE THAT WE MAY SEE HERE IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. OKAY. AND REPORTING THAT THERE WAS A COLLEGE THAT SO MANY OF THESE CASES KIND OF LIKE WERE HAPPENING. CORRECT. SO LET ME ASK YOU, HOW CONTAGIOUS IS THIS WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT MEASLES? THIS IS A VERY, VERY CONTAGIOUS VIRUS. THAT VACCINE TRULY DOES WORK. NOW IF SOMEBODY HAS MEASLES AND THEY’RE IN A ROOM AND THEY COUGH OR SNEEZE, THIS IS AN AIRBORNE VIRUS. SO IT CAN STAY IN THE AIR FOR UP TO TWO HOURS AFTER THAT PERSON HAS LEFT. NOW, IF YOU’RE VACCINATED, NO BIG DEAL. FOR THE MOST PART, YOU SHOULD BE PRETTY PROTECTED. HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE UNVACCINATED, THERE’S A 90% 90% CHANCE THAT YOU’LL ACTUALLY GET THE VIRUS ITSELF. OKAY, SO DOC, LET ME ASK YOU, FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT VACCINATED, FOR INSTANCE, AS YOU WERE SAYING, LIKE AT THAT COLLEGE WE WERE DISCUSSING IN FLORIDA. SO IF SOMEONE THERE WAS UNVACCINATED, DID THEY STILL HAVE TIME TO GO AND GET THE VACCINE? YOU CAN STILL GET THE VACCINE. THE VACCINE IS A VERY GOOD VACCINE. IT’S A TWO PART SERIES THAT WE SEE. WITH THIS. THE FIRST DOSE WILL GIVE YOU A 93% IMMUNITY. AND IF YOU GET BOTH DOSES, WHICH IS WHAT THE GOAL REALLY IS, YOU’LL GET A 97% IMMUNITY AS WELL. SO THAT VACCINE REALLY IS EFFECTIVE. AND THE BIGGEST POPULATIONS THAT WE’RE SEEING THAT ARE GETTING MEASLES IS GOING TO BE THOSE THAT ARE UNVACCINATED AT THIS TIME. SO IF THEY WERE EXPOSED TO IT, WILL THE VACCINE STILL HELP STOP IT OR HELP PREVENT IT FROM GETTING EVEN WORSE? EXACTLY RIGHT. YEAH. SO THERE ARE SOME SITUATIONS WHERE YOU CAN USE THE VACCINE AS A TREATMENT, BUT TRULY, THERE REALLY ISN’T A STRONG TREATMENT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO THE MEASLES VIRUS AS A WHOLE. OKAY. SO DOC, IN ADDITION TO THE VACCINE, HOW ELSE SHOULD THEY TREAT THIS? LOTS OF FLUIDS REST. YOU KNOW, STAYING IN YOUR ROOM. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT PEOPLE DO IF THEY ARE EXPOSED? SO THE FIRST THING YOU’RE GOING TO WANT TO DO, IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’VE BEEN EXPOSED OR YOU HAVE THE SYMPTOMS OF IT, IS THAT YOU WANT TO CALL YOUR PRIMARY DOCTOR AND THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU SHOULD GO. GIVING THEM A HEADS UP IS GOING TO BE VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO SHOW UP IN THE LOBBY AND AFFECT ANYBODY ELSE WHO’S AROUND THAT WAY. HEALTH CARE COMMUNITIES AND PHYSICIANS OFFICES CAN PREPARE FOR YOU TO COME AND BE EVALUATED. NOW, HYDRATION IS GOING TO BE KEY DURING THIS TIME. FEVER CONTROL WITH MOTRIN OR TYLENOL IS ALSO ANOTHER GREAT OPTION AS WELL. AND DOC, JUST LASTLY, IF YOU’RE TRAVELING OR GOING OUTSIDE OF THE U.S., I MEAN, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND. OBVIOUSLY YOU WOULD WANT TO BE VACCINATED BEFORE LEAVING THE COUNTRY ESPECIALLY AS WELL, RIGHT? CORRECT. FLORIDA’S VERY GLOBAL ECONOMY, AS WE KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE COMING IN AND OUT. AND WITH MORE PEOPLE TRAVELING THIS YEAR THAN BEFORE, YOU KNOW, IT’S GOING TO BE THE CASE THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE GO TO A COUNTRY THAT HAS IT AS A BIGGER OUTBREAK AND THEN BRING IT BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY AS WELL. THOSE THAT ARE VACCINATED WILL DO PARTICULARLY WELL, BUT THOSE THAT ARE UNVACCINATED ARE OUR HIGHEST RISK POPULATIONS. DOC, ANY FINAL THOUGHTS FOR OUR VIEWERS THAT YOU WANT THEM TO KNOW? THAT’S IT TODAY, IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET YOUR VACCINE, TALK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. IF YOU HAVEN’T GOTTEN IT AS OF YET AND IF YOU HAVE, CONTINUE TO WASH YOUR HANDS. ALTHOUGH MEASLES IS OUT THERE, WE SEE A NUMBER OF UPPER RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS THAT ARE STILL ROAMING AROUND OUR COMMUNITY AS WELL. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THANKS SO MUCH. HOPEFULLY PREVENT THE FLU. RIGHT. BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT’S BEEN SUCH A ROUGH SEASON FOR THE FLU. RIGHT. QUITE AN ASTONISHING SEASON FOR THE FLU ACTUALLY. YEAH. INFLUENZA A AND INFLUENZA B IS REALLY STARTING TO SH
Central Florida doctor explains signs, symptoms, likely cause for surge in measles
Florida ranks third in U.S. measles cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention February report
Updated: 10:08 AM EST Mar 4, 2026
Emergency medicine physician, Dr. Rajiv Bahl, explains signs, symptoms and likely cause for surge in measles cases. Florida ranks third in U.S. measles cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report as of Feb. 27, 2026. Click here to learn more.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Emergency medicine physician, Dr. Rajiv Bahl, explains signs, symptoms and likely cause for surge in measles cases.
Florida ranks third in U.S. measles cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report as of Feb. 27, 2026.