- Measles is spreading in Utah, with exposure at grocery stores, schools and the Lindon temple open house.
- Utah's health department updates exposure locations and advises vaccinations for younger children to prevent spread.
- Of the 486 total cases, 107 were reported in the last three weeks.
SALT LAKE CITY — Measles is very contagious for anyone not vaccinated, and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services is continually updating exposure locations on its website to help prevent further spread.
Measles can remain in the air for up to two hours after someone with measles has visited a location, and the website lists specific times where there could have been a risk of exposure.
Some of the more recent exposure locations include the Lindon Utah Temple open house on March 12, a play at Uintah High School, Timpanogos High School, Fiesta Fun Family Center in St. George and multiple grocery stores and health care facilities.
Those who may have been exposed are encouraged to watch for symptoms for the next 21 days. When someone is infected with measles, a cough or runny nose will often appear before the rash typically associated with measles.
Vaccines
Even people who have been at exposure locations are considered immune to measles if they are vaccinated, the health department said. Although 10.1% of reported cases in Utah have been in vaccinated people, those cases are much less severe and less contagious.
The Utah Department of Health and Human Services is currently encouraging parents of children between the ages of 6 months and 12 months to talk to their doctors about the early vaccine.
"Given the high levels of measles in Utah, it is now appropriate to consider this early, extra dose for all Utah infants of this age," the health department's website says.
Infants who get a dose before one year should still get two more doses following the typical schedule — one dose between 12 months and 15 months and another between 4 years and 6 years.
Parents of children older than 1 who have received their first dose can also consider getting their second dose early, as long as it has been one month since their first dose. Children who do get an early second dose will not need later doses, according to the health department's website.
"We recommend everyone make sure you are protected against measles," the website says, either through vaccination or prior infection.
It does not recommend booster shots for those who are up to date with measles vaccinations and have received two doses of either the MMR or MMRV vaccine. Those vaccinated before 1967 are considered unvaccinated because they were given a less effective vaccine.
Spread
Currently, wastewater evaluations have found measles in the most recent sample taken in all but the Weber-Morgan Health Department, where it was detected in the week before the most recent sample. That health district has had only two cases throughout the outbreak, the fewest in Utah.
Although measles is spreading throughout the state, almost half of the total cases have been in people living in the Southwest Utah health district, where the outbreak began.
The Central Utah and San Juan health districts do not have wastewater sampling.
Of the 486 measles cases since the first case in Utah last year, 107 have been reported in the last three weeks, according to the website's update on Tuesday.
Almost two-thirds of the measles cases have been in children under 18.
