Lab tests pending for three babies diagnosed with measles at a Palatine day care center have been confirmed as positive for measles, state health officials announced Friday night.
The Illinois Department of Public Health had announced earlier this week that five babies at KinderCare Learning Center in the north suburb had been diagnosed with the respiratory disease, but that only two cases had been confirmed with lab testing.
The Friday announcement means there are now six confirmed cases of measles in Cook County this year. The first was a Cook County resident, who officials have identified only as an adult, who became ill in late January.
Health officials are still investigating the source of the disease, a state health department statement said.
On Friday, a suspected case of measles in Lake County proved negative, according to Lake County health officials. There also was a reported case of measles in downstate Madison County that the state health department "no longer considers to be a case of measles," according to the statement.
Measles is a respiratory disease that can cause severe health complications, including pneumonia, encephalitis and, in rare cases, death. The virus is transmitted by contact with an infected person through coughing or sneezing and can remain alive in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours.
Officials said the KinderCare children were all under a year old, meaning they were too young to get the vaccine that guards against measles, mumps and rubella.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians all recommend that children get their first dose of the vaccine at 12 to 15 months, and a second shot at 4 to 6 years.