DHSS says measles case confirmed on Kenai Peninsula – KTUU.com

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) says that they have confirmed that a case of measles was detected on the Kenai Peninsula.

They warn that there is a “potential for wider community exposure, putting nonimmune persons at risk for infection.”

DHSS says that an unvaccinated teenager traveled to Arizona and through Seattle, Washington. After returning to Alaska, the patient started displaying symptoms of the disease — usually fever, cough, sore throat and headache followed by a rash — over ten days after returning to Alaska.

The Alaska State Virology Laboratory did a polymerase chain reaction test that came back positive at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16.

The teenager was reportedly around other people and in public locations in Soldotna from July 8-14. DHSS has a link to the locations and times that the individual was present and could have spread the disease. DHSS says that they had to inform “restaurant management and health care professionals” that the patient visited of possible exposure.

According to DHSS, the last confirmed case of measles in Alaska was in Fairbanks in 2015.

Measles is highly infectious and is spread through the air. Symptoms usually begin with a fever, runny nose, red eyes, cough, and sore throat. Those symptoms are followed by a rash that usually starts in the face and spreads to the trunk and limbs. DHSS says that about 30% of people develop complications including diarrhea, pneumonia, and ear infections, and that these complications are more prevalent in young children and adults.

People who think they may have been exposed should contact a healthcare provider immediately.

All others should make sure their vaccines are in line with the recommendations.

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