A case of measles has been confirmed in Snohomish County,Wash., with a potential exposure reported at Seattle Children's Hospital, according to a Feb. 21 health department news release.
The measles infection is in an infant living in Snohomish County. The infant is thought to have been infected during travel in South Asia before arriving in Washington. Before the infant was diagnosed, others may have been exposed at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport and at Seattle Children's Hospital. The potential exposure at the hospital occurred in the emergency room lobby Feb. 20.
Health officials have been contacting affected locations to alert them of potential exposures. The health department is urging anyone who was potentially exposed to immediately get the measles vaccine if not yet immunized. Most people in the area have immunity to the measles via vaccination, so risk to the general public is low, according to the health department.
"Seattle Children’s Emergency Department staff members followed appropriate screening processes of the patient and their family members at the visit and immediately implemented appropriate infection control procedures, which include isolating the patient and reporting to King County Public Health," a hospital spokesperson told Becker's. The organization also notified patients and families in the emergency department who may have been exposed and provided information about disease symptoms.
"Most of the exposed patients were vaccinated," the hospital spokesperson said. "Of those that were not, we provided either MMR vaccine (within 72 hours of exposure) or measles immunoglobulin (within 6 days of exposure)."
The hospital is not aware of any measles trends in the region at this time.