Placer County monitoring three measles cases
AUBURN, Calif. – Placer County Public Health is investigating three cases of measles in one family, in connection with recently-reported cases in Butte and Tehama counties.
The county has identified one location where others may have been exposed. Members and guests who were at the Auburn Racquet and Fitness Club on March 18 between 7 – 9 p.m. may have been exposed to measles. No additional exposure locations, including schools, have been identified at this time.
Anyone who was at the club after 7 p.m. and has not received two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR, is urged to call the Placer County Public Health Division right away at 530-889-7183.
Those who develop an illness with fever (101 degrees or higher), cough, runny nose or red eyes, with or without rash, should call their healthcare provider. Those experiencing symptoms should not go out in public or to a clinic, hospital or physician’s office before calling the facility first to help prevent the spread of disease. Anyone diagnosed with measles should stay home until they have been cleared by a doctor.
With the California Department of Public Health reporting seven confirmed cases of measles in the state this year, including reported cases in Northern California, Placer County Public Health strongly urges everyone to get vaccinated.
Highly Contagious, Fast Spreading
Measles spreads very easily by air and nonimmune people can become infected simply by being in the same room with someone who has measles, even after the infectious person has left the room. Symptoms typically begin with fever, cough, runny nose and red watery eyes. Within a few days, a red rash appears, usually first on the face and then spreading to the rest of the body.
One in every 20 people with measles develops pneumonia and, more rarely, serious, even life-threatening complications can occur.
Those infected with measles can be infectious for up to four days prior to and after developing the measles rash.
The symptoms of measles generally appear about seven to 21 days after a person is infected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nine out of 10 people around the infected person will also become infected if they are not protected.
The measles virus stays in the air up to one hour after a person with measles has left a room.
Best Protection
The best protection against measles is two doses of measles vaccine, MMR. Measles vaccine has been available in the United States since 1963, and two doses have been recommended since 1989.
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