Hopefully this won’t turn into something much bigger.
Health officials in Hays County have issued a public health alert after a possible measles exposure in the area.
Officials said a person who tested positive for the contagious virus visited San Marcos on Friday, Feb. 14.
According to the Hays County Health Department, the Gaines County resident who tested positive for measles was in San Marcos from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. that day.
Officials warn that anyone who was at Texas State University from approximately 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and at Twin Peaks Restaurant from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. — or up to two hours after those times — may have been exposed and could be at risk of developing measles.
The Hays County Health Department is requesting that individuals who may have been exposed notify their local health authority. The Hays County Health Department, the Texas Department of State Health Services and other local health agencies are working together to investigate potential contacts.
The individual from Gaines County also traveled to multiple areas in San Antonio on Saturday, Feb. 15. They include the University of Texas at San Antonio main campus between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m, the River Walk attractions — Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and Ripley’s Illusion Lab — between 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., and Mr. Crabby’s Seafood and Bar in Live Oak between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The person also visited a New Braunfels Buc-ees on Feb. 16 between 9 a.m. and noon.
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People who were at Texas State University and at Twin Peaks Restaurant during the times of possible exposure are advised to do the following:
- Review their immunization and medical records to determine if they are protected against measles infection. People who have not had measles infection or received measles immunization previously may not be protected from the measles virus and should talk with a health care provider about receiving measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization.
- Contact and notify their health care provider as soon as possible about a potential exposure if they are pregnant, have an infant, or have a weakened immune system regardless of vaccination history
- Monitor themselves for illness with fever and/or an unexplained rash from four days to 21 days after their exposure (the time period when symptoms may develop)
- If symptoms develop, stay at home and avoid school, work and any large gatherings. Call a health care provider immediately. Do not enter a health care facility before calling and making them aware of your measles exposure and symptoms. The health department can assist health care providers in appropriately diagnosing and managing your care.
See here for the previous update. This may have started in a small, insulated community in a remote and lightly populated West Texas county, but all it takes is one person to break containment, especially with a disease as contagious as measles. And while the large majority of those who have caught measles were unvaccinated, not all of them were and not all of the future victims will be. MMR vaccines are 97%+ effective if you get both shots – they’re about 94% effective with just one shot – but that still leaves room for some unlucky vaccine recipients to get it as well. This is going to go until it burns itself out – the very idea that we might take some kind of official steps to slow the spread is beyond unthinkable these days – so check your vaccination records and take action now while you still can if you need to. Because once you’re sick, it’s too late for the vaccine. Reform Austin, the San Antonion Report, and the Current have more.