Measles exposure alert issued for Alberta Children's Hospital emergency room

Alberta Health Services has issued a measles exposure alert for the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary after a person with a confirmed case of measles visited the hospital's emergency department while infectious.

The exposure period is between 10:08 a.m. and 2:14 p.m. on July 13.

If you were in the emergency department at that time, and you were born after 1969, and you've had fewer than two documented doses of measles vaccine, health officials warn that you may be at risk for developing measles and should self-monitor for symptoms.

"Measles is an extremely contagious disease and the virus spreads easily through the air," AHS said in a statement.

Symptoms of measles include:

• Fever of 38.3 C or higher; and
• Cough, runny nose and/or red eyes; and
• A rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down to the body and then to the arms and legs.
• The rash appears red and blotchy on lighter skin colours. On darker skin colours, it can appear purple or darker than the skin around it, or it might be hard to see.

"Complications of measles can include ear infections, pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, premature delivery, and rarely death," AHS said in the statement. "Persons who are pregnant, less than five years of age, or have weakened immune systems are at greatest risk."

If you do develop symptoms of measles, you are advised to stay home and call the province's measles hotline at 1-844-944-3434 before visiting a hospital, doctor's office or pharmacy.

Alberta has seen 1,454 cases of measles so far this year, the most since 1979.