Additional Hamilton residents may have been exposed to the measles virus after four people in the same household contracted the highly contagious lung infection.
The warning was issued in a news release from the city’s public health department Friday, May 3.
The release said officials are trying to contact those who may have been exposed to the virus from the confirmed cases, identified as three children and one adult. They are “related to a previous local case of measles” confirmed by public health on April 17.
Members of the public are at risk of exposure, according to the news release, if they were in these locations: Food Basics at 2500 Barton St. E. on April 21 from 4 to 6:15 p.m.; 45 Barlake Ave. apartment building from April 21 to May 2; McMaster Children’s Hospital Corner Cafe on the second floor in the lobby on April 30 from 9 to 10:15 a.m.
Public health added a further warning connected to exposure at the hospital cafe: “If you were with an infant under 12 months of age, are pregnant or immunocompromised, call 365-323-4993 immediately as you may be eligible for preventive treatment.” The phone line will be operational from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., May 3 to May 5.
Anyone who believes they may have been exposed should check their vaccination records to confirm they have up to date measles shots, said the release: “Two doses are generally recommended for anyone born after 1970.”
Symptoms of the virus can show for 21 days after exposure. These include: high fever, red and blotchy rash, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes.
Those with symptoms should contact their doctor, and refrain from visiting a clinic or hospital without calling in advance. Alternatively, call public health at 365-324-1439 for assistance.
Dr. Jeff Pernica, an infectious diseases expert at McMaster University, recently told The Spectator that measles “spreads unbelievably easily … If somebody with measles goes into a room and then leaves, and a susceptible person goes into that room two hours later, they can still get measles.”
Earlier this year, on March 12, public health confirmed a measles case in a Hamilton child who been travelling in India and returned on a flight from Saudi Arabia to Toronto on March 5.
At that time, public health officials said they were “not aware of any additional exposure locations in Hamilton.”
Prior to that, on Feb. 28, public health said that as many as 200 people at McMaster Children’s Hospital had potentially been exposed to the virus carried by a child from Brantford who had been infected on a trip to Europe.
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