Measles Outbreak Spreads After Unvaccinated Woman Visits Disneyland

[fabrisse]

What started as a measles outbreak among seven people who visited Disneyland in December has spread to more than 26, as an unvaccinated California woman apparently transmitted the virus through airports and the theme park, health officials said

Comments

[buttersbooboo]

this is ridiculous. Get vaccinated, people!

[rhysande]

I thought the Disney outbreak started December 17-20. If the woman didn't become sick and contagious until December 28th, she isn't "the woman who started the outbreak."

I don't understand people who fly when they are highly contagious, be it a cold, flu, or something like the measles. When a person is that sick they should cancel their trip, stay home, and do their best to minimize the exposure to others.

[galantha_nivala]

A person can be infected with and spread the measles virus before they start to show symptoms. That's part of what makes it so contagious.

There are consequences to catching measles as an adult. Men can be sterilized by the high fever. Pregnant women pass the virus to their unborn children. It can cause everything from blindness and learning disabilities up to miscarriage.

Get vaccinated, people.

[rhysande]

Infected people can spread measles 1-2 days before their first symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis) appear or up to 4 days before their rash appears (usually 3-5 days after symptoms begin to appear). If the woman in the article became symptomatic on the 28th, she would have become contagious around the 26th at the earliest. She isn't the one who spread the disease through Disneyland from the 15th-20th of December, though she was certainly an active vector in spreading the disease by taking flights to and from Washington while she was sick. I don't mind the press pointing a finger at her for her part in endangering the general public, but someone else is Patient Zero.