The Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed seven cases of measles in DuPage County, making health officials stress again the importance of vaccination against the disease.

Measles, which infects about 20 million worldwide every year, can be a severe illness that causes symptoms like rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. In rare cases, patients face more serious complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and even seizure and death. Those who think they may be infected should contact their doctor.

Authorities believe that none of the children who were found with measles received adequate vaccinations.

The federal officials have long been stressing the importance of immunizing children against measles, mumps or rubella, but many parents refuse to vaccinate their children for religious reasons or because they think the shots may cause autism or other health problems.

According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the beginning of this month, the U.S. faces the biggest measles outbreak in seven years with 64 cases from January throughout April 25, more than in all of 2006 and the highest number during that four-month period since 2001 (116 cases).

Officials said the rise can be attributed in part to overseas travelers catching the virus and bringing it back to the U.S.

Before the measles vaccination program, about 3–4 million persons in the U.S. were infected each year, of whom 400–500 died, 48,000 were hospitalized, and another 1,000 developed a chronic disability from measles encephalitis.

More information on measles vaccination can be found at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/measles.