KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. – Montgomery County Health officials spent most of Monday doing contract tracing of people who may have been exposed to the measles.
They tell FOX 29 that CHOP clinicians in King of Prussia identified symptoms and alerted health officials.
What we know:
“It’s a detective game. Basically we are trying to figure out who went where and where they went at the time” said Dr. Richard Lorraine, Medical Director for the Montgomery County Office of Public Health.
Officials say a baby girl who was too young to be vaccinated contracted the measles virus after a trip abroad.
The CDC recommends children receive their first measles vaccine at 12–15 months old.
They say it’s a much different circumstance than the outbreak in West Texas and New Mexico where nearly 200 people now have the virus.
Many of the cases originated in a largely unvaccinated Mennonite community.
“In that area there’s a lot of spread of measles among a community of unvaccinated individuals. What we have here in Montgomery county is a single case of a very young child who was traveling abroad with her parents and she was too young to have had the vaccine for measles. She was exposed and now she is positive for measles” said Lorraine.
Officials are warning those potential exposure areas including a China Airlines shuttle bus from JFK airport arriving at the Pho Ha Saigon Restaurant on 575 Adams Avenue February 25th into February 26th..
Later on February 26th at the True North Pediatrics Associates of Plymouth in Plymouth Meeting from 11:45AM to 2:15PM.
Again several hours later at the CHOP Emergency Department in King of Prussia from about 1PM-3pm.
“What we are doing is trying to identify those exposure points but even then those people who were exposed have a pretty good likelihood of being immune to measles” said Lorraine.
As of Monday, only a single case has been reported.
Measles can cause a severe rash, fever and other symptoms can remain in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours. An estimated 92-percent of the population has already vaccinated against the virus..
What you can do:
If you think you may have been exposed to measles:
- Check your immunization records to see if you are protected against measles.
- Talk to your healthcare provider about the MMR vaccines.
- Monitor yourself for symptoms.
What they’re saying:
“I don’t want my son to have it. Or ever get it.. ha ha. That’s something I woujldn’ expect to happen nowadays” said Courtney Robinson of King of Prussia who says her son recently received the MMR vaccine.
“Thankfully, my daughter is vaccinated. I mean that’s what vaccines are for” added King of Prussia mom Alex Fayfar.
The Source: The information in this story is from Montgomery County Health officials.