SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – Concerns about measles transmission have emerged in Spokane County after a probable measles case was identified by Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD).
Dr. Mark Springer, Communicable diseases project manager for SRHD, discussed the potential concerns.
Even though there is just one potential case, Springer says the actual issue is larger.
“We’ll in our mind, it’s not just one case, because we’ve had two cases in Idaho and this is our first case in Spokane, and our communities are so linked,” Springer said.
The unpredictability of measles adds to the challenge.
“When we have that amount of uncertainty, we like to be aggressive in our planning assumptions and just make sure that we’re expecting some additional cases down the road,” Springer said.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases describes measles as “a highly infectious respiratory disease that can lead to severe complications including pneumonia, seizures, brain damage and death.”
The Washington State Department of Health further explains that “measles can stay in the air for up to two hours, so people can get measles even after a sick person has left the area.”
“We want to make sure that people look at this serious, because, the thing that we don’t want to have happen is, you know, someone treats the disease as not something to worry about,” Springer added.
Despite the seriousness, Springer does not want the community to panic.
“We don’t want people to be anxious about this because there is no reason to be anxious about it. Because we have a vaccine,” Springer said.
He urges residents to check their vaccination status and get vaccinated if needed.
“We want to encourage people if they have questions about the vaccine, this is the perfect opportunity to talk to your health care provider,” Springer said. “This is in my mind too important to not go to the opinion of an expert”
