PORT ANGELES — A fourth case of measles has been confirmed in Clallam County — and the teenage boy is a sibling of the second case that was discovered earlier this month, health officials said.
The 14-year-old was identified as having measles late Thursday and has been quarantined during his infectious period to avoid contact with the public, health authorities said Friday.
He is the brother of a 5-year-old girl who was diagnosed with measles Feb. 11.
A person with measles is contagious from about four days before the onset of a rash to four days after the rash appears, interim Clallam County Health and Human Services officials said.
Dr. Jeanette Stehr-Green, Clallam County public health officer, said the boy developed a rash Thursday.
His period of infection is believed to be from Feb. 15 to Monday, she said.
“It is reassuring that our processes are working and that the fourth case has been in quarantine and not exposed to susceptible people,” Stehr-Green said in a Friday interview.
All four measles cases in Clallam County have affected Port Angeles residents.
No cases have been confirmed in Jefferson County.
“I think there is potential for wider exposure,” Stehr-Green said.
“There might be other exposures that we don’t know about,” she added.
“I think people need to be aware of the risk. I think people need to get vaccinated.”
An unknown number of tests for measles from Clallam and Jefferson counties are being undertaken at a state lab.
The number of samples is unknown to public health officials because private providers can submit their own samples.
Clallam County’s public health department sent “a few” samples to the state Department of Health laboratories in the Seattle suburb of Shoreline on Friday, Stehr-Green said.
She suspected that more would be sent to the lab over the weekend.
“With each of those cases, I have to say the measles picture wasn’t classic,” Stehr-Green said.
“The collection of symptoms isn’t a great picture for measles.”
A 52-year-old man was diagnosed with the highly contagious viral disease Feb. 1. He was hospitalized at Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Port Angeles and has since recovered.
The sister of the teen boy, a girl who attends kindergarten at Olympic Christian School at 43 O’Brien Road in Port Angeles, caught measles after she was in the Lower Elwha Health Clinic about an hour after the 52-year-old man on Jan. 29, state and county health officials said.
Measles is an airborne virus and can remain in an area up to two hours after an infected person has left.
“Our clinic has notified all that were present that there was a possibility of exposure,” Lower Elwha Klallam tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles said Friday.
“We definitely went right into action and have taken the appropriate measures to make sure that everyone was notified. Nothing has transpired since then.”
Since the exposure at the clinic at 243511 W. U.S. Highway 101 in Port Angeles, the tribe has informed its members about the outbreak and placed signs around its facilities, Charles said.
A staging area has been set up outside the tribal clinic to handle potential measles cases through an agreement with OMC. Suspected measles cases go to OMC rather than inside the clinic, Charles said.
At OMC at 939 Caroline St. in Port Angeles, a yellow tent has been erected for examining suspected measles cases.
“It’s been very challenging, but all steps have been taken,” Charles said.
At Olympic Christian School, students who were not vaccinated prior to being exposed to the girl Feb. 6 are being kept away until Feb. 27 out of an abundance of caution.
“Everyone who was excluded remains excluded,” Stehr-Green said.
The third measles patient, a 43-year-old man, was confirmed to have measles by test results Wednesday.
He was an acquaintance of the 52-year-old man who was the first case in Clallam County.
“It was not a health clinic exposure,” Stehr-Green said.
“That [43-year-old] individual also has been in full quarantine.”
Public health officials have investigated possible measles exposures, followed up with individuals and stand ready to respond to more cases.
Immunized people can neither catch measles nor spread it to others.
Adults born after 1957 generally require one vaccination. Adults born before 1957 are thought to be immune.
Children require two vaccinations about a month apart for full immunity.
All parents are encouraged to check the vaccination status of their kids.
Measles is associated with a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes leading to a measles rash three to five days after symptoms begin, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The person who transmitted the virus to the 52-year-old male remains a mystery to public health officials.
The last measles outbreak occurred in Clallam County in 1990, Health and Human Services Director Iva Burks has said.
For details about measles, vaccinations, symptoms, morbidity and other information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-CDCmeasles.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com
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