Red Deer Regional Hospital has been added to a growing list of places where potential exposure to measles has taken place in the last week.
“Alberta Health Services (AHS) has been notified of an additional new case of measles within the Central Zone where there are now 22 confirmed cases at this time,” a Thursday AHS advisory noted.
The April 10 AHS advisory said several of the individual cases have been in public settings while infectious, including in the communities of Two Hills, Vegreville and Red Deer.
Additional locations may be released if necessary, says AHS, but it is alerting the public to the following new potential exposure sites:
April 2
Two Hills Medical Clinic
5019 51 St. Unit #2, Two Hills
Exposure time period: approximately 12:55 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.
April 3
Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Emergency Department
3942 50A Ave., Red Deer
Exposure time period: Approx. 12 a.m. – 1:40 p.m.
Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Surge Unit
3942 50A Ave., Red Deer
Exposure time period: approximately 11:35 a.m. on April 3 – 1:30 p.m. on April 5
April 4
Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Diagnostic Imaging
3942 50A Ave., Red Deer
Exposure time period: approximately 2:55 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Two Hills Health Centre Emergency Department
4401 53 Ave. Two Hills
Exposure time period: approximately 3:20 p.m. – 10:55 p.m.
April 4-5
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Emergency Department
5241 43 St, Vegreville
Exposure time period: approximately 7:15 p.m. – 9:20 a.m.
April 5
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Emergency Department
5241 43 St, Vegreville
Exposure time period: approximately 5:35 p.m. – 10:05 p.m.
April 7
St. Joseph’s General Hospital Emergency Department
5241 43 St, Vegreville
Exposure time period: approximately 7:55 p.m. – 3:30 a.m.
“Anyone who attended these locations at these times, who was born in or after 1970 and has less than two documented doses of measles-containing vaccine, is at risk for developing measles,” the AHS advisory says.
AHS advises to self-monitor for symptoms of measles and strongly encourages review of immunization records.
“Measles is an extremely contagious disease and is spread easily through the air,” says AHS.
Symptoms of measles include:
• fever of 38.3 degrees Celsius or higher; and
• cough, runny nose and/or red eyes; and
• 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. Persons who are pregnant, less than one year of age, or have weakened immune systems are at greatest risk," AHS says.
