An 11-month-old baby who recently traveled from the Philippines to the USA has been confirmed as the first case of measles in San Diego County this year, the county’s Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) said Wednesday.
The HHSA added that the unimmunized infant is now hospitalized, but may have exposed others to the disease at two Kaiser Permanente medical facilities in recent days.
Before being hospitalized, the child was brought to the Kaiser Permanente Otay Mesa Medical Offices at 4650 Palm Ave., on July 29 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic; on Aug. 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic, Urgent Care and Pharmacy; and on Aug. 5 from 4:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Pediatric Clinic, a report by Fox 5 said.
Authorities are following up on patients and staff who may have been exposed to the virus at Kaiser Permanente.
Health officials say measles is a very contagious disease. It can be spread by coughing, sneezing or being in the same room with an infected person.
Measles develops seven to 21 days after exposure. Early symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes. The distinctive red rash usually appears one to four days after early symptoms appear.
Authorities advise people with symptoms to call their doctor in advance, so that preemptive infection control measures can be done to prevent exposure to others.
There is no specific treatment for measles, but health authorities recommend bed rest and fever control.
Authorities are calling on travelers to get vaccinated amid outbreaks in several countries, including the Philippines.
In February this year, The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) declared measles outbreak across the country because of an increase in the number of cases of measles.
