A second case of measles has been reported in San Diego and San Diego County health officials are warning residents in Encinitas and Carlsbad that they may have been exposed to the potentially deadly virus that was once eradicated.
A 47-year-old resident who recently traveled overseas was hospitalized with measles, marking the second case in the county this year, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency reported Sunday.
Others may have been exposed at locations in Carlsbad and Encinitas, including the Naked Café, Ralph’s Market, Tinleaf Fresh Kitchen Trader Joe’s and more. See below for a full list of locations and times that exposure may have occurred.
"County Epidemiology and Immunization Services Branch Immunization Unit staff members are working with Scripps Encinitas Hospital and Scripps Coastal Medical Center to identify and follow up with patients and staff," the HHSA said in a news release. "In addition, County Public Health Services is working with the multiple sites listed below, and potentially others, to identify and follow up with staff who may have been exposed."
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This year's first case of measles was confirmed in a one-year-old who had also recently traveled overseas, but the cases are not believed to be connected, the HHSA said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an advisory in late march after seeing an increase in measles cases across the nation. The agency is urging people to make sure kids get their measles vaccines.
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“It’s a highly contagious virus. It spreads airborne, which means it can travel long distances. If someone with measles walks into a room of 100 people who are not immune, 90 of those 100 people will get measles,” explained Edmund Milder, MD at Rady Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Supna Iyer at Kaiser Permanente San Diego says in extreme cases … you can have encephalitis.
"This just basically tells you your brain has inflammation from the virus, you can have seizures, headaches, personality changes and sometimes even death," Dr. Iyer said.
"So you could potentially enter a room an hour later, and still be exposed to the virus because it's still airborne particles in the room. And if you have 10 people in a room who could potentially be infected, so you know, say 10 unvaccinated people or 10 vulnerable people, nine of those will get it. So it's extremely infectious," Dr. Iyer added.
So far this year, the CDC says there have been 97 cases of the virus across 18 states, with about half of cases found in children under 5 years old. The number is up from 58 cases on March 19, which was already equal to the number of cases in all of 2023.
More than 70% of cases occurred in people who were either unvaccinated or had only one dose of the MMR vaccine while 25% of cases vaccination status was unknown. Only 5% of this year's cases were among fully vaccinated people, according to CDC data.
Data from the CDC shows vaccination rates among kindergartners have decreased from 95% in 2019 to 93% at the start of 2022, leaving about 250,000 kindergartners susceptible to measles each year. California's vaccination rate is among the highest in the nation with an estimated 96.5% vaccinated.
According to the CDC, children should get their first MMR dose of the vaccine between 12 to 15 months old. If your child is traveling internationally, that can be moved up to 6 months.
Exposure may have occurred at the following locations:
March 22, 2024
Naked Café
288 N El Camino Real, Suite C
Encinitas, CA 92024
9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Ralph’s Market
125 N. El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
March 23, 2024
Leo Mullen Sports Park
951 Via Cantebria
Encinitas, CA 92024
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
March 24, 2024
Trader Joe’s
115 N El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Kingdom Hall Jehovah’s Witness
1821 S Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
March 25, 2024
Tinleaf Fresh Kitchen
6985 El Camino Real #108
Carlsbad, CA 92009
1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Ralph’s Market
125 N El Camino Real
Encinitas, CA 92024
2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
March 28, 2024
Scripps Coastal Medical Center Encinitas
477 N El Camino Real
CA 92024
8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
March 29-30, 2024
Scripps Encinitas Hospital Emergency Department
354 Santa Fe Drive
Encinitas, CA 92024
4:10 p.m. on March 29 to 1:30 a.m. on March 30 2024
