The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday announced that an individual with a confirmed case of measles visited three stores in State College in the last week, potentially exposing others to the disease.
Exposures may have occurred at:
– The Penn State Bookstore in the HUB-Robeson Center between 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on July 7
– Lion’s Pride, 112 E. College Ave., between 3 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. on July 7
– Target, 201 W. Beaver Ave., between 4:50 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on July 7 and 5:20 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on July 10.
“If you visited these locations in the late afternoon or early evening of July 7 or 10, please contact your health care provider to determine if your immunizations are up to date,” Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said. “If you have been properly immunized against measles, your risk of getting the disease is minimal. However, if you believe you might have been exposed to measles and experience symptoms, please contact your health-care provider or call our toll-free hotline at 1-877-PA-HEALTH.”
Measles is highly contagious, though preventable by vaccine, and spreads through coughing, sneezing and other contact with saliva and mucus of an infected person. Symptoms usually appear one to three weeks after infection and can include high fever, rash, cough and red, watery eyes.
Those most at risk are infants under the age of 1 who are too young to receive the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine; people who have refused the vaccination; and people from parts of the world where there is low vaccination coverage.
People who have been vaccinated can still be at risk if they received an inactivated vaccine that was used between 1963 and 1967 and have not since been revaccinated, according to the Health Department. Those born after 1957 who have only received one dose of the MMR vaccine may also be at risk.
