Adult, child in Clackamas County have measles but there could be other cases

Emergency rooms, like the one at Oregon Health & Science University, end up boarding mental health patients who have no where else to go. (Christine Torres Hicks/OHSU)

Amid an ongoing whooping cough outbreak, Oregon now has at least two cases of measles, another preventable disease.

And there may be more.

The Oregon Health Authority said Monday that an adult and child in Clackamas County – both unvaccinated – have measles, which is highly infectious. 

Officials gave no more identifying information. They said the infection likely stemmed from an exposure in Marion County between May 19 and June 4, but they don’t know exactly where they became infected or who infected them. There could be other people who also have contracted the disease, which spreads through the air after an infected person coughs or sneezes. Virus particles also can linger airborne for two hours.

The health authority said the adult developed a rash last Tuesday and was confirmed to have measles on Friday. The child also developed symptoms last week. Both are recovering. 

The health authority indicated that the adult sought treatment last week in Portland and warned that people who visited Oregon Health & Science University’s Richmond immediate care clinic at 3930 S.E. Division St. in Portland between 4:40 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. last Wednesday might have been exposed.

The person also sought treatment at OHSU’s emergency department on Marquam Hill in southwest Portland between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 7:15 p.m. Friday, but the risk of exposure there was lower because the patient was masked, health officials said.

The disease can cause a fever, cough and runny eyes, which is often followed by a rash. Other potential symptoms include an ear infection, lung infection and diarrhea and, in some cases, swelling of the brain. In industrialized countries, about two people out of 1,000 die.

Children younger than 1, those with compromised immune systems and unvaccinated pregnant people are especially susceptible to the disease.

Measles is preventable with the MMR, or measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, which is recommended in two doses between the ages of 1 and 6. In 2000, the World Health Organization declared the disease eradicated in the U.S. but it has since reemerged, brought by international travelers and a spread of anti-vaccine sentiment.

In Oregon, 91% of kindergarteners are vaccinated against measles, state data shows, with a 95% vaccination rate for children up to 12th grade.

So far this year, federal health officials have reported more than 150 cases in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

And now two in Oregon – the first ones this year.

They coincide with an outbreak in Oregon of whooping cough, which is also preventable with a vaccine. The health authority’s latest data shows that about 220 people across several counties have been infected with whooping cough in Oregon this year, including 65 cases announced within the last month.

The five-dose vaccine against whooping cough or pertussis is given in childhood, but adults can be vaccinated, too. Adults can also be vaccinated against measles, though those born before 1957 are considered to have already been exposed to the disease and don’t need vaccinating.

Because the measles virus can linger in the air and spread so easily, officials said that everyone who qualifies should be vaccinated to prevent an outbreak. The virus usually incubates in the body between seven to 21 days before symptoms appear. Those infected are contagious for four days before a rash appears and up to four days afterward. 

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