An increase in measles activity this year is coinciding with a rise in potential exposures as infected individuals seek medical care at healthcare facilities across the nation.
Last week, hundreds of people were potentially exposed to the virus in the emergency department of UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif. The exposure is tied to a child who recently traveled internationally and sought care in the ED on March 5.
Sacramento-based UC Davis Health is working with local county health officials to notify about 300 people of the potential exposure.
"UC Davis has a record of each patient and employee who was in the emergency department that day and notifications about potential exposure are taking place through the electronic medical records online messaging portal, letters, in person and over the phone," a spokesperson told Becker's on March 9. "Only those people deemed at risk of exposure that afternoon and evening are being contacted."
Healthcare facilities and health officials in Michigan are also responding to a string of exposures, according to the Detroit Free Press. Hundreds of state residents were potentially exposed to the virus between Feb. 27 and March 1 after two adults sought care at the following healthcare facilities:
- Trinity Health Ann Arbor Hospital's ED
- Corewell Health Dearborn Hospital's ED
- Henry Ford GoHealth Urgent Care (Dearborn Heights, Mich.)
- WellStreet/Beaumont Urgent Care (Dearborn, Mich.)
The individuals had recently traveled abroad and had no record of receiving the measles vaccine.
"Maintaining the health and well-being of our patients, team members and community is our top priority," a spokesperson for Henry Ford Health in Detroit told Becker's on March 11. "We're working alongside health officials to ensure anyone who might've encountered this person in our facility has the proper guidance and support. Vaccinations are the absolute best line of defense against diseases like measles, and we strongly encourage anyone who's not been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible."
As of March 7, the CDC has confirmed 45 measles cases nationwide, up from 41 cases a week prior. In all of 2023, the CDC reported just 58 cases.
Editor's note: Becker's has reached out to Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health for comment and will update this article if more information becomes available.