A Measles Alert at a New Jersey Hospital

On February 6, a person from another state with measles went to the pediatric emergency room at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Health officials say anyone who was inside the hospital between 11:15 a. m. and 4:45 p. m. could have caught the virus. The department urges people who think they might be sick to call the state health office or a doctor before going to any medical center. Measles symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, and a rash that usually shows up three to five days after the first signs. If someone was exposed, symptoms might appear as late as February 28.People who are not fully vaccinated or have never had measles before are at higher risk. The disease spreads easily when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes. It can stay in the air for up to two hours after someone leaves, and contact with mucus or saliva can also transmit it. In severe cases, measles can cause pneumonia or inflammation of the brain. Pregnant women are warned that it may lead to miscarriage or a low‑birth‑weight baby. Measles is contagious from four days before the rash appears until four days after it shows up. This means that anyone who was near an infected person during that window could have been exposed.