Sequim Gazette staff
Laboratory specimens of another suspected measles case were sent to the State Public Health Laboratory in Seattle on March 11 for testing. The latest case is an adult relative of two earlier cases who was thought to be immune to measles.
Clallam County Health and Human Services is treating the case as measles with quarantine and examining who the person came into contact with recently.
Previously, a suspected fifth case of the measles in Clallam County turned out to be a patient getting a rash, a reaction to receiving the measles vaccine.
According to Jeanette Stehr-Green, Clallam County interim health officer, about one in 20 (5 percent) of people who are vaccinated with the measles vaccine (MMR) develop a skin rash.
The measles case count in Clallam County remains at four confirmed cases. The two most recent cases of measles in the county were identified before they were contagious and they stayed home the whole time to reduce the chance of additional exposures to unvaccinated persons.
Health care staff and local health care providers have vaccinated hundreds of children and adults in the past three weeks, she said, so health officials were not surprised by this occurrence.
“Because of the recent cases of measles in our community, we had to treat this rash as if it were a case,” Stehr-Green said. “Measles is highly contagious even before the rash starts and is easily spread when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. If you are not vaccinated, you can get measles just by walking into a room where someone with the disease has been in the past couple of hours.”
Once recognized, Stehr-Green said, the patient with the potential measles case was in quarantine while specimens were tested at the Washington State Public Health Laboratory and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Measles can be serious, and some of our most vulnerable neighbors cannot be vaccinated, including babies and pregnant women. It is vital that the rest of us help protect ourselves, our families and our community,” Stehr-Green said. “The possibility of a mild reaction should not discourage people from getting vaccinated. The benefits of vaccination for both the individual and the community substantially outweigh the occasional reaction to the vaccine.”
Fever and a rash are the most common side effects of the vaccine, she said. Persons who develop a rash in response to the measles vaccine are not contagious.
For up-to-date local information on measles, Clallam County has online Measles Information Updates. The state Department of Health immunization program has online information about measles and measles vaccine and frequently asked questions on the immunization website at doh.wa.gov.
