SC - 531 Quarantined, +/- 200 New Active Measles Cases In Last 7-9 Days; Epidemic "Growing At Astounding Speed"

[hatrack]

Ed. - Yes, it's astounding. It's measles. That's how it works.

The South Carolina measles outbreak is growing at an astounding speed. “Over the last seven to nine days, we’ve had upwards of over 200 new cases. That’s doubled just in the last week,” Dr. Johnathon Elkes, an emergency medicine physician at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina, said during a media briefing Friday. “We feel like we’re really kind of staring over the edge, knowing that this is about to get a lot worse.”

On Friday, the state’s health department said that 124 measles cases had been diagnosed since Tuesday, bringing the state’s total since the outbreak began last fall to 558. A spokesperson for the South Carolina Health Department said in an email that “eight people, including adults and children, required hospitalization for complications of the disease since the start of the outbreak.” It was unclear how many people are currently hospitalized.

During the Friday briefing, Prisma Health pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Robin LaCroix estimated that 200 people are now “actively infected.” The South Carolina Health Department said that 531 people are in a 21-day quarantine following an exposure to measles. The number of cases is expected to grow. The health department’s report only reflects the number of people whose illness has been confirmed as measles by a lab. Because measles is so contagious and people can spread the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, each sick individual has the potential to infect 12 other people, LaCroix said during the briefing.

EDIT

Few people in the outbreak zone are taking advantage of free shots provided by the state health department. On Wednesday and Thursday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health deployed mobile health units to Spartanburg offering free measles vaccinations. Just 18 people showed up to get the shots: nine adults and nine kids, state health officials told NBC News.

EDIT

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/south-carolina-measles-outbreak-cases-double-vaccines-quarantine-rcna253989

[Buckeyeblue]

1. Do families with measles get signs in their yard?

From what I've been told, in the 50's and 60's if someone in the house had measles, the health department would put a sign in the yard indicating the house was under quarantine.

If we're not doing that we should be.

[SheltieLover]

2. This is what happens when people don't get vaxed!

Covididiots!