More than a week after a Clark County infant was diagnosed with measles, public health officials say nobody else has contracted the disease.
People exposed to the contagious infant aren’t in the clear yet, though. Measles has a seven- to 21-day incubation period that ends March 8.
“We’re certainly hoping that we won’t see any new cases, but we will continue to monitor through the 21 days and we know hospitals are doing the same,” said Marni Storey, Clark County Public Health services manager.
The county announced Feb. 15 a local infant was diagnosed with measles after returning from a family trip to India.
The people most at risk of catching the highly contagious disease would have been exposed at two local health care sites where the infant was taken Feb. 14: Evergreen Pediatrics and Southwest Washington Medical Center.
Public health officials contacted 130 people thought to have been exposed to the infant. Officials spoke to all but eight of those people on the phone and discussed whether the people were susceptible to catching measles and encouraged vaccination, Storey said. The remaining eight people were sent letters.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contacted people who were on the plane with the infant.
In the first couple days after the diagnosis, the public health department and Evergreen Pediatrics received a high volume of calls from people concerned about contracting the illness. Those calls have since dwindled, Storey said.
Health officials followed up on a couple of calls where sick kids showed a few symptoms of measles but later determined they did not have the disease, Storey said.
The first symptoms of measles are a fever of up to 104 degrees, runny nose, cough, sneezing and red, watery eyes. A rash then appears on the face and moves down most of the body.
Measles is rare in the United States because most people are immunized as children. In addition to those receiving the two vaccines, those born before Jan. 1, 1957 are considered immune. People born before 1957 lived through several epidemics before the first vaccine was licensed and are very likely to have had the disease, according to the CDC.
“Measles is preventable,” Storey said. “We have a very safe, effective vaccine and highly encourage people get vaccinated and ensure their kids are vaccinated if they’re older than 12 months.”
Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.
