Measles Exposure - San Diego flight to Hawaii

Here%26#39;s an FYI - Most people may have already been contacted but just in case you%26#39;re in Hawaii via San Diego checking TA...

Measles Outbreak Grows, May Have Spread At Airport

Last Updated:

02-12-08 at 6:41PM

An 11-month-old baby who was treated at the Children%26#39;s Clinic in La Jolla before traveling to Hawaii has contracted measles, prompting San Diego County health officials today to warn air passengers they may have been exposed to the disease.

It is the fifth confirmed case of measles stemming from an outbreak of the disease locally, according to officials with the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.

Health officials suspect that another five people -- including a 10-month-old infant hospitalized yesterday and a 2-year-old toddler -- are also infected with measles.

The 11-month-old infant is believed to have acquired the disease at Children%26#39;s Clinic, where the first measles patient received care on Jan. 25, according to the HHSA.

The five pending measles cases are also believed to have been contracted at the Children%26#39;s Clinic, according to health officials, who are calling it the county%26#39;s first outbreak of measles in children in 17 years.

The baby traveled with family members to Hawaii on Saturday and is now in isolation at a military base until there is no further risk of the disease spreading, according to the HHSA.

Officials with the Hawaii Department of Health are working to notify passengers on Hawaiian Airlines Flight 15, which departed Lindbergh Field%26#39;s Terminal 2 on Saturday morning bound for Honolulu.

';It is extremely important that passengers, particularly children, in close proximity to this area of the airport around that time (8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) are aware that they may have been exposed to the disease,'; said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county%26#39;s public health officer.

Measles Exposure - San Diego flight to Hawaii

I am going to assume that if you or your children have been immunized OR have already had the Measles, it should not be a worry. Most children who are in school, have probably been immunized. I know some slip through the cracks and/or aren%26#39;t immunized properly due to beliefs. Older adults, such as myself(58) didn%26#39;t ever have the immunization because it didn%26#39;t exist. But we usually got the Measles and then we were protected from getting them again.

I%26#39;m not sure of the age at which children are being immunized these days with the Measles vaccine, but I would think definitely by 2 y/o.

Wondering why it wasn%26#39;t made clear that if you have already had Measles or been given the vaccine, there is no need to panic?

Measles Exposure - San Diego flight to Hawaii

I agree it isn%26#39;t a problem for most people, I just wanted to give a heads up.

Children are immunized at 12 months old.

Vast majority of adults born before 1960 had measles as a child (vaccine came out in 1962).

Children now get a booster later in childhood that should protect them long term.

The few cases of measles seen in the country per year are in infants not immunized, immigrants, and the rare adult whose single vaccine as a child has lost its effectiveness.