U.S. Measles Epidemic Is Over, Officials Say : Health: But disease is still a threat if vaccinations are ignored, the CDC warns. Cases in Orange County peaked in 1990.

A measles epidemic that swept through several urban areas two years ago has been largely suppressed, health officials said Thursday, but they still urged parents to have their children immunized against the highly contagious disease.

“Measles is not a benign disease, as many people believe,” said Dr. William L. Atkinson, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control.

In 1990, the CDC recorded 27,786 confirmed cases of measles nationwide, most occurring in children under the age of 5. Of these cases, 12,480 occurred in California, with big outbreaks reported in Los Angeles, San Diego and Bakersfield.

“We saw a rise starting in 1988 and continuing through 1991, and this year it looks like we are back down to our pre-epidemic level,” said Dr. Hildy Meyers, medical director of communicable disease control and epidemiology at the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The measles epidemic in Orange County peaked in 1990 with 707 reported cases. In 1991, that figure fell to 261.

Four Orange County residents--three of them children--died in those two years from complications caused by the measles virus.

“So far this year we have reported 12 cases,” Meyers said. “Measles tend to peak during the spring, so we wouldn’t anticipate any major increases for this year but we do, of course, urge people to get the appropriate immunizations.”

Thanks to the renewed vaccination campaigns, the CDC reported, the number of measles cases was reduced to 9,662 nationwide in 1991, of which 1,959 occurred in California.

Atkinson said the federal disease center expects to record fewer than 5,000 cases this year.

About one-fourth of measles cases result in some complication, most often pneumonia, and in some instances a fatal bout of encephalitis, he said. In the last three years, 166 people in the United States, most of them children, have died after contracting measles.

Physicians recommend that infants get an immunization shot when they are 12 to 15 months old. School-age children should have a second vaccination.

Before 1963, a bout with measles was a rite of passage for most American children, complete with a high fever and a telltale red rash that lasted for about a week. In those days, about 500,000 children got the disease each year, and about 500 of them died.

But in 1963, vaccines were introduced that succeeded in nearly wiping out the disease by the early 1980s. The CDC recorded an all-time low of 1,497 cases in 1983.

With the disease fading away, many doctors and parents ignored giving children the recommended second measles shot. But to their surprise, a new measles epidemic appeared in 1989 and swept through some schools, colleges and inner-city neighborhoods.

“Many people are not aware of just how contagious measles is,” Atkinson said. “We estimate that 90% of susceptible individuals exposed to measles will get the disease.”

Although children are the most susceptible, adults who catch it are likely to suffer more complications, physicians said.

In addition to the California cities, other “high-risk” areas for contracting the disease include New York City, northern New Jersey, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Milwaukee and Philadelphia, officials said.

Times staff writer Greg Crouch contributed to this story.