ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Thousands of people at two major airports outside Washington, D.C. were potentially exposed to measles, but in this day and age, some may wonder how worried they should actually be. 8News is breaking down what health experts have to say.
A person traveling through Northern Virginia, during which they went to both Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan National Airport, is confirmed to have had measles while passing through.
This happened between Jan. 3 and Jan. 4. Anyone who visited either airport on those days and could have caught the disease should look out for the more recognizable symptoms for at least the next week.
Not everyone who stopped by the aforementioned airports should be worried. Those who traveled through the International Arrivals area at Dulles on Jan. 3 are more at risk, and those who were at Reagan on Jan. 4 should exhibit heightened attention, specifically if they were in the Terminal-A area.
But even in those cases, not everyone needs to worry. The United States has maintained what health experts call “measles elimination status” for more than 20 years. There have been a few cases in that time, but for the most part, it’s contained — largely due to the population’s high vaccination rate.
According to Dr. Melissa Viray of the Virginia Department of Health, about 95% of kindergarteners are fully vaccinated.
“Your regular Virginian does not need to be that worried about measles,” Dr. Viray said.
However, it’s a different story for those who aren’t protected.
“It’s one of those things where, if you were infectious with measles and you exit the room, up to 2 hours later, someone else could enter the room and, if they’re susceptible, be infected,” Dr. Viray said. “It is a very infectious disease.”
A case of measles can get serious — complications in treatment could lead to pneumonia, brain inflammation and even death. Health experts urge the public to continue vaccinating their kids and keep up with their own status.
“That’s how we prevent introductions, like what happened in [Northern Virginia], from actually becoming additional cases in Virginia,” Dr. Viray said.
Anyone who believes they may be infected should look out for common symptomatology. The earlier symptom include a high fever, cough and runny nose.
During the second phase — which traditionally becomes apparent about 3-5 days after initial symptoms unfold — an infected person will typically develop a rash starting around the face area and spreading throughout the arms and rest of the body.
More information about measles can be found here.
