San Diego measles outbreak
A measles-infected seven-year old passenger on a plane from Switzerland infects other passengers; measles was widespread in the United States before a vaccine was developed in the early 1960s
San Diego’s measles outbreak has spread aboard a planeload of passengers to Hawaii, where an eleven-month-old baby infected in a Bird Rock medical clinic last month is recovering in isolation at an island military base. Hawaiian health officials are trying to find about 250 passengers on the Hawaiian Airlines flight, especially children, who may have come in contact with the sick infant, said Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s public health officer. “Children who have not been immunized are the ones we’re most concerned about,” Wooten said. Health officials also are trying to find people who were at Lindbergh Field’s Terminal 2, Gate 41 between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Saturday. That time period covers two hours before and after the 10:30 a.m. departure of Flight 15. In less than a month, the outbreak — San Diego County’s first since 1991 — began in Switzerland and has spanned about half the globe. The case demonstrates how quickly, extensively and silently the potentially lethal virus can spread. “(It) speaks to the highly infectious nature of measles,” Wooten said.
Here are some facts about measles:
* Highly infectious viral disease is transmitted through respiratory droplets from the nose and mouth
* Takes seven to eighteen days for symptoms to appear after infection
* Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, loss of appetite, “pink eye,” and a rash lasting five or six days
* Complications include diarrhea, ear infections, and pneumonia
* Permanent brain damage in one per 1,000 infected children in the United States. Death in up to three per 1,000 infected children
* Vaccination helps protect against measles, mumps and rubella
San Diego County health officials have confirmed measles in five patients, and they are investigating five suspected cases. All these children, from infants to a nine-year-old, were not vaccinated because they were younger than one-year old — the minimum age for measles inoculation — or because their parents objected to having them vaccinated. The health experts worry that hundreds of other individuals who may have contracted the virus will start to exhibit symptoms for weeks to come. More than thirty officials in San Diego County are working into the night trying to notify parents of hundreds of potentially exposed children from at least five schools, programs and a clinic, Wooten said. The affected sites include a day care center and swim school in Pacific Beach; a toddler program and a
