Orange counties officials released a statement which says that people going to Disneyland, Los Angeles International Airport and a few other places in Los Angeles and Orange regions might be exposed to measles.
Measles symptoms vary, but in essence, look like a cold: fever, cough, runny nose, red, watery eyes and a rash that starts on the face and spreads on the body.
If you have these symptoms, officials recommend you to stay home, or if you must go in, tell the staff you have measles so they can take measures to prevent other people from being exposed.
Because manifestations like fever and cough are way too common, they alone cannot precisely indicate measles, L.A. County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser explained.
“However, there are certainly other signs such as conjunctivitis (red eyes) and Koplik spots that are more specific to measles, so if a person has a rash and a high fever, they should seek medical evaluation, and their provider can do further tests to assess whether this is measles,” Gunzenhauser added.
The early measles can look like other illnesses, mostly because the rash appears about three to five days after the onset of other manifestations. Therefore, patients can be contagious four days before they start to develop the rash.
A report from the Orange County Health Care Agency recommended those who could have had a close encounter with potential carriers of the infection to monitor themselves. The symptoms could appear from seven to 21 days after contamination.
There is currently no cure for measles. The treatment those infected get solely focuses on the symptoms, and not the cause. Vaccination has proven to be inefficient in preventing the disease, health advisories said.
Orange County officials stated that visitors might have been infected with measles while visiting Disneyland, California Adventure, or the Desert Palms Hotel in Anaheim between August the 11th and the 15th.
Health officials have released a list of potential locations people may have been exposed to the infection. Here is the complete list of places:
- Los Angeles International Airport Terminal 8 on August the 11th between 9 PM and 11:30 PM
- Universal Studios on August the 14th
- TCL Chinese Theatre at 6925 Hollywood Blvd on August the 15th
- Madame Tussauds at 6933 Hollywood Blvd on August the 15th
- The Original Farmers Market at 6333 W 3rd St. on August the 15th
- Santa Monica Pier and Beach on August the 15th
- LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal on August the 15th, between 6 PM and 12.00 AM
