This Week's Measles Exposures
Why does it seem like measles is everywhere these days?
Were you exposed to measles last week?
As measles spreads to more and more places in the United States, it is becoming more and more possible to become exposed in more and more places.
This Week’s Measles Exposures
As you will see, you don’t have to travel out of the country anymore to get exposed to measles.
In fact, many kids have been exposed at school and have ended up in quarantine for at least three weeks.
And as these people found out these past few weeks, you might also be exposed to meales when you:
shopped at Walmart (DeKalb, Illinois on March 2)
went to the post office (DeKalb, Illinois on March 2)
visited or stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites (Independence, Iowa on March 4 and 5)
attended the Zion's Invitational Gymnastics Meet (Hurricane, Utah on Feb 28)
went to Wasatch Pediatrics (Cottonwood Heights, Utah on March 2)
visited the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium (Draper, Utah on March 2)
went to the Chevron gas station (Sandy, Utah on March 2)
shopped at Ream’s food store (Sandy, Utah on March 2)
ate at Los Garcia Mexican restaurant (Sandy, Utah on March 2)
attended the Solo & Ensemble Competition at Legacy Preparatory Academy Junior High (Wood Cross, Utah on March 5)
watched a movie at the MegaPlex Theatres (Centerville, Utah on March 1)
visited the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Price, Utah on March 1)
visited the Herimman Emergency Center (Herriman, Utah on March 5 and 6)
went to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) (O’ahu, Hawaii on Feb 26 and March 3 and 4)
visited the Lāʻie Mormon Temple (O’ahu, Hawaii on Feb 27)
went to Hilo International Airport (Hawai’i, Hawaii on March 3 and 4)
visited Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park (Hawai’i, Hawaii on March 3)
visited Hilo Siam Thai Restaurant (Hawai’i, Hawaii on March 3)
went to the Bout Time Pub & Grub (Arvada, Colorado on March 10)
went to the Centra Lynchburg General Hospital Emergency Department (Lynchburg, Virginia on March 2)
went to Brairwood Mall (Ann Arbor, Michigan on March 5)
went to Canton Urgent Walk-in Clinic (Canton, Michigan on March 8)
shopped at Cricket Wireless at the Roundtree Place Shopping Center (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 5)
went to Crunch Fitness (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 4)
shopped at CVS (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 6)
went to Sidetrack Bar & Grill (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 4)
shopped at T-Mobile (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 5)
went to Ypsilanti Urgent Walk-in Clinic (Ypsilanti, Michigan on March 7)
shopped at WinCo Foods (Gresham, Oregon on March 7)
attended the ConExpo at the Las Vegas Convention Center (Las Vegas, Nevada on March 6 and 7)
spent time in the Las Vegas area on March 8 - Unfortunately, measles is one thing that won’t necessarily stay in Vegas if it happens there…
visited Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center (Roseville, California on March 2)
Where else could you have been exposed?
“Arizona is currently experiencing a measles outbreak on the Arizona-Utah border.”
Arizona Department of Health Services
You could have been exposed when traveling to any of these states with the most measles cases, including Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
“Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH) has confirmed cases of measles in two unvaccinated children. The first is in a child who contracted the disease in January while traveling to South Carolina, where there is a large ongoing outbreak. The exposure in the second child is currently unknown.”
Sacramento County Public Health Confirms Two Measles Cases
So, unlike a typical year, you no longer have to travel out of the United States to be exposed to measles.
Which means that there is more and more measles circulating in our communities.
And that makes this a great time to get vaccinated and protected so that you and your family don’t get caught up in these measles outbreaks.
“If you have cancer and a weakened immune system, you should avoid traveling to places with ongoing measles outbreaks. Wash your hands often and avoid being around people who are sick with fever, rash, cough, runny nose, or red eyes.
Because people with cancer might not be able to get the MMR shot, it’s important that everyone around them is vaccinated. This helps keep them safe. Whether they are traveling or staying home, all close contacts of people with cancer should be up to date on the MMR vaccine to help protect the patient.”
What People With Cancer Should Know About Measles
It also means that you have to be extra careful if you have any kind of immune system problems, making you high risk if you were to get measles, or if your kids are too young to be vaccinated.