As the U.S. grapples with a swell of measles cases — the largest number recorded in a single year in more than three decades — the University of Michigan Health Sparrow announced its hospital lab is the first in the state to develop its own test for the highly contagious virus.
The Lansing-based hospital now can get measles test results within about a day from its in-house lab, said Jon Baker, director of laboratories at U-M Health-Sparrow.
"We do think that we'll see more cases of measles," Baker said. "So that's one of the reasons why we felt it was important to have this test available."
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As of July 31, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 27 confirmed cases of measles in the state. Nationally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 1,333 confirmed cases this year in 40 states and 29 outbreaks as of July 30 — the most since 1992.
Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease that can cause serious illness, long-term disability and death in people of all ages. The best way to avoid measles infection is to get vaccinated, health officials say. Yet immunization rates have fallen in Michigan and across the country in recent years, driving outbreaks.
Michigan's quarterly Immunization Report Card shows that just 79% of toddlers statewide have gotten at least one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. However, 95% of the population must be immune to measles to prevent outbreaks — either through vaccination or through prior infection, according to the CDC.
The measles polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that U-M Health Sparrow's laboratory scientists created is similar to what was used during the coronavirus pandemic, Baker said.
Here's how it works: Secretions from deep inside the nose are taken from a patient using a swab. Samples of those secretions are then used, in the process the lab's scientists created, to "amplify the target DNA or RNA … that allows us to detect very small amounts, particularly viruses," Baker said. "And, so, it's an effective, fast test. It's very sensitive.
"Up until now, the test was available only through the state health department's laboratory. The state laboratory has been running the tests on weekdays and occasionally on the weekends. But that process required pre-approval by the state epidemiology office."
On average, U-M Sparrow was sending roughly three to five measles test samples each week to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Laboratories for processing, he said, adding that "most of them were negative."
Now that Sparrow has its own testing capability, Baker said it should improve the turnaround time at least a little bit.
"We want to make sure that suspected cases of measles can be detected early, so that early quarantine and intervention can happen and it can control the spread of measles," he said.
The speedy identification of cases can affect whether a person is eligible for post-exposure treatments, too, which can limit the severity of the disease and sometimes prevent illness altogether.
If fewer than 72 hours have passed since initial exposure to someone with the virus, a person may be eligible for a dose of the MMR vaccine. People who are within six days of exposure to the virus may be able to be treated with immunoglobulin, the CDC reports.
"People that have been exposed will need to be tested as part of that protocol," Baker said, "and that can be a particular advantage to vulnerable individuals that may have been exposed to measles. So, rapid testing is important."
Anyone with measles symptoms should call ahead to their doctor before visiting a clinic or hospital, Baker said, because "measles is an extraordinarily contagious disease, so we want to avoid bringing people into waiting rooms."
Measles can spread through the air when a person with an infection breathes, coughs or sneezes. Those viral particles can remain in the air for as long as two hours after a person leaves, infecting others.
Testing can be done at the curbside, Baker said, to reduce the risk of exposing others.
"We have always seen it as one of our primary objectives to make sure that we're on the cutting edge, and particularly in terms of accessibility," Baker said, "which is why we came up with the test for COVID. We came up with the one for mpox. … It's one of the reasons why we were early developers of the test for candida auris, which is a big problem in long-term care.
"Measles is not going to go away, and we are going to see future outbreaks. This is part of how we can make sure that we are prepared for that."
Contact Kristen Shamus: kshamus@freepress.com. Subscribe to the Free Press.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M Health Sparrow says it is 1st Michigan hospital to develop measles testing capability
