A measles outbreak is spreading across northern California and officials said over 100 children may have been exposed to the illness at a recent event.
There have been six confirmed cases in the Sacramento area of the contagious illness, which poses significant risk to children under five years old, KCRA reported Friday.
“Public health officials say a contagious child may have exposed more than 100 children during an enrichment educational event on Feb. 24,” the outlet stated. “Details about the location of the event have not been publicly disclosed. Leaders of the enrichment program say they have voluntarily agreed to temporarily shut down the facility.”
Measles symptoms appear seven to 14 days after a person has had contact with the virus, and those symptoms include high fever; cough; runny nose; red, watery eyes; and rash, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Measles is highly contagious. If one person has it, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not protected,” the agency said. “The best protection against measles is measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. MMR vaccine provides long-lasting protection against all strains of measles.”
A contagious child was treated at Kaiser Medical Center in Roseville, according to the KCRA report. Now, health authorities are conducting contact tracing, according to CBS News.
In his comments to the outlet, Dr. Dean Blumberg, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis Children’s Hospital, explained, “It is so infectious that if somebody is infectious and they walk into a room, it can stay suspended in the air for up to two hours, so you don’t even need to have person-to-person contact with somebody to get infected.”
According to the CDC, as of Thursday there were 1,281 confirmed measles cases reported in the United States.
“Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000. However, measles is still common in many parts of the world,” the agency noted. “Every year, measles is brought into the United States by unvaccinated travelers who get measles while they are in other countries. These travelers are mostly Americans and sometimes international visitors.”
