Kansas is one of those 20 states — there have been 11 cases there — and hospitals in the state are taking precautions to prevent the spread of measles to uninfected patients and healthcare workers.
Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, for example, puts suspected measles patients in negative pressure rooms that do not release air when their doors open. “Air is circulated out of [the] room because measles can be contained in that air and could be contagious to other people,” Maggie Hagen, MD, an infectious disease physician at Via Christi, told KWCH.
Additionally, the patient who has measles and healthcare workers treating the patient wear masks.
Via Christi has even partnered with the county to identify possible measles patients before they arrive at the hospital. The county has a hotline patients can call, and the county then calls Via Christi to tell them a potential measles patient is on the way, according to the KWCH report.
“We actually met the family at the car and was able to put a mask on them, bring them directly to the room, [and] bypassed any chance of exposure to any other people in the waiting room,” John Kephart, infection control consultant for Via Christi, told KWCH.
However, if a person with measles does enter the waiting room, Via Christi sends letters to every family present in the room to inform them they could have been exposed, according to the report.
These precautions can help stymie the spread of measles in the healthcare setting. More information for healthcare professionals on measles from the CDC can be found here.
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