Aus­tralia

South Aus­tralia (SA) Health is warn­ing Ade­laide res­i­dents to be alert for measles over the next two weeks. A 13-month-old boy who acquired the virus over­seas has become the state’s third con­firmed case of the highly infec­tious ill­ness in 2013. Chief med­ical offi­cer Pro­fes­sor Paddy Phillips said SA Health had already been in con­tact with a num­ber of peo­ple who were exposed to the infected child.

“Measles is highly con­ta­gious among peo­ple who are not fully immu­nized and is spread through cough­ing and sneez­ing,” Prof. Phillips said. “The ill­ness begins with fever, cough, runny nose, and sore eyes, fol­lowed by a rash which begins on the head and then spreads down the body.”

Any­one on board Emi­rates flight EK440, which arrived in Ade­laide at 8:42 pm on 5 April 2013, and any­one in the air­port until 11:30 pm that night should be alert for symp­toms. Any­one in the Women’s and Children’s Hos­pi­tal emer­gency depart­ment between 11:00 am and 5:30 pm should also be alert.

Prof. Phillips said any­one who falls ill over the next two weeks should visit their doc­tor. “It is very impor­tant that peo­ple phone their GP ahead of any visit and men­tion why they are attend­ing so that pre­cau­tions can be taken to avoid spread­ing dis­ease to oth­ers,” he said. GPs have also been alerted to the case.
(ProMED 4/14/2013)

USA (North Carolina)

Pub­lic health offi­cials from the North Car­olina Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices are work­ing with local health depart­ments to inves­ti­gate an out­break of measles. As of 18 April 2013, seven cases have been iden­ti­fied in res­i­dents of Stokes and Orange Coun­ties, accord­ing to the North Car­olina Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices. Local pub­lic health depart­ments are con­tact­ing other peo­ple who might have been exposed to these cases and pro­vid­ing vac­cine to limit the spread of infection.

“Measles is very uncom­mon in North Car­olina, so many peo­ple aren’t aware of the symp­toms,” said Dr. Laura Ger­ald, State Health Direc­tor. “Measles spreads quickly, par­tic­u­larly in chil­dren and adults who aren’t vac­ci­nated. We want to make the pub­lic aware of this out­break so indi­vid­u­als can take steps to pro­tect them­selves and their families.”

Measles is a highly con­ta­gious dis­ease that is spread through the air by cough­ing and sneez­ing. It also can be trans­mit­ted through con­tact with secre­tions from the nose or mouth of an infected per­son. Ini­tial symp­toms may include fever, runny nose, watery red eyes and cough. After a few days, a rash appears on the head and spreads over the entire body. Measles can lead to pneu­mo­nia and other com­pli­ca­tions, espe­cially in young chil­dren. The dis­ease poses seri­ous risks for preg­nant women, includ­ing mis­car­riage and pre­ma­ture birth.

Although the early symp­toms of measles can be sim­i­lar to those of many other infec­tions, Dr. Ger­ald rec­om­mends that any­one with fever, a runny nose, watery red eyes and a cough should stay at home and limit con­tact with oth­ers to avoid spread­ing ill­ness. If you develop a rash or if your symp­toms worsen, call your doc­tor or seek med­ical care. If you do seek med­ical care, call your doctor’s office or health care facil­ity before you go so they can pre­pare for your visit and pro­tect other patients from exposure.

Measles can be pre­vented by the com­bi­na­tion MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vac­cine. It is impor­tant for all indi­vid­u­als 12 months of age and older to be vac­ci­nated.
(ProMED 4/21/2013)

USA (Texas)

Har­ris County’s first case of measles in two years has been con­firmed in a one-year-old child, offi­cials said. Har­ris County con­tains Hous­ton, the largest city in Texas.

A pos­i­tive lab­o­ra­tory test was reported the week of 8 April 2013 for a child who lives on the county’s north side, said Rita Obey, spokes­woman for Har­ris County Pub­lic Health and Envi­ron­men­tal Ser­vices. So far, no other cases have been reported, Obey said on 13 April 2013.

County health offi­cials have attempted to notify every­one who was exposed to the child, includ­ing staff mem­bers at a med­ical office the child vis­ited, she said. Because measles is highly con­ta­gious, expo­sure can occur by sim­ply being in the same room as some­one who is infected, she said. Any­one who was exposed to this child should be iso­lated from the 5th day after expo­sure to the 21st day, Obey said, except those who have been immu­nized for measles, mumps and rubella.

Measles is a reportable ill­ness, mean­ing a physi­cian or other provider who treats some­one with the dis­ease must report it to local health offi­cials, Obey said. Since immu­niza­tions have made measles rel­a­tively rare, some doc­tors have never seen it, Obey said. The infected child had recently been out of the coun­try, but there’s no way to know where the dis­ease was con­tracted, she said.
(ProMED 4/21/2013)