Measles Outbreak Warning - Maryland

Thanks to ADCAN Member Taylor Augustine for providing this information .....

http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=706&sid=1649416

Measles watch intensifies in Montgomery Co. ROCKVILLE, Md. - A measles watch in Montgomery County is intensifying. County and state health officials are asking anyone who was admitted to the emergency room at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital last weekend to call 301-826-6000. The potential for exposure to measles would have occurred last weekend while a patient was being treated in the emergency room. The patient was kept in the hospital's short-stay unit from April 5 to April 7. Earlier this year, measles was detected when an unvaccinated resident returned from a trip overseas. Since then, two adults and an infant have been diagnosed with measles. The first thing you'll notice with measles is a fever. "Once you develop the rash though, along with the fever, we want people to suspect measles," says Cindy Edwards, nurse administrator of Montgomery County's Department of Health and Human Services.
Other symptoms include:
· Runny nose;
· Red, watery eyes;
· Cough (can be similar to croup);
· Small red spots, with blue and white centers inside of the mouth.
But health officials are asking that you don't just go to the doctor or emergency room. "We want them to call ahead or sit out in the car until they can notify them that they are coming in and that they have a fever and a rash, so they can be immediately isolated and we can protect the other people in the area," Edwards says.