United States: This was confirmed on Monday after a Health and Human Service Marion County child had been diagnosed with measles, said Melissa Gable, a Marion County Health and Human Services spokesperson, on Monday afternoon.
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Gable said the first signs that the child was ill manifested on June 11. Details about the child’s immunization history or where they got infected with the measles were not evident.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) announced two weeks ago that it is investigating two confirmed cases of measles in Clackamack County, which were likely acquired in Marion County between May 19 and June 4.
A case of measles infection among an adult who had not been vaccinated was reported on June 14. The OHA also revealed in a prepared statement that another household member, a child who had not been vaccinated, started displaying the symptoms a few days later.
According to OHA spokesperson Jonathan Modie, “The specific location of exposure in Marion County is unknown,” as statesmanjournal.com reported.
He added that the communicable disease examiners are working in a team with Marion County health officials in order to find out about the source of the spread.
More about measles and its spread
Measles is a respiratory disease; this means that the disease spreads through respiratory droplets that are released through respirations of people who have contracted the measles virus through respiratory droplets produced by another person who has the virus by either coughing or sneezing.
Surprisingly, aerosol containing the virus can also persist in that space for up to 2 hours after the person who infected other individuals has exited the room.
According to Dr. Paul R. Cieslak, medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations at OHA’s Public Health Division, “Spreading measles from one person to another is pretty easy, as it’s a highly infectious disease,” as statesmanjournal.com reported.
“That’s why it’s extremely important that all adults and children in their household be up to date on vaccinations,” he added.
Government health advises anyone with measles signs to inform their healthcare provider or urgent care facility that they are suffering from measles to prevent its spread to other people.