Lewis and Clark health officials are preparing for confirmed measles cases and urged the public to remain vigilant after an infected person visited several Helena businesses earlier this month.
Last Friday, Lewis and Clark Public Health announced that an out-of-county resident exposed the public to measles at five locations in Helena on Sunday, June 15.
Now, public health officials anticipate confirmed positive cases in Lewis and Clark County and encourage the public to be aware of their vaccination status and to seek medical confirmation if they experience any symptoms. As of Wednesday afternoon, no new cases have been reported in Helena, although health officials said that is not unexpected.
Shelly Maag, the Lewis and Clark Public Health nurse supervisor, told Montana Free Press that while the department doesn’t have complete immunization records for the community, indications are good that most of the area’s residents are vaccinated.
However, health officials recommend that anyone who received the measles vaccine in the past but can’t find records of it get vaccinated.
“Just get it done and have it and know that you’re protected,” Maag said. “Because a lot of people say, ‘Yeah, my parents vaccinated me,’ and they probably did, but if you’re exposed, do you wanna have that question in your mind, did they or didn’t they? We’re just encouraging people, if you don’t have a record, just get it. It doesn’t hurt you to get another one.”
Maag added that the more people who get vaccinated, the more “herd immunity ” the community will develop. That immunity can help protect members of the public most at risk of getting sick who can’t receive the vaccine, such as infants under 1, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems, Maag said.
Measles has an incubation period of about 21 days from exposure to becoming sick and infectious, Maag said. With that, public health officials are eyeing July 7 or July 8 as the county’s “safe day” when confirmed cases from the June 15 exposures should have become evident.
Until then, local health care providers have increased measles testing for people experiencing symptoms, who are not vaccinated and who were at one of the five exposed businesses.
“ I think they are testing more than they were prior to that exposure because right now, typically people will show symptoms at seven to 14 days, so we’re right at that time when we should start seeing some cases, if we get any,” Maag said.
In preparation, Maag said doctors will notify the health department if they have a patient with a high suspicion of measles infection. Then, public health officials will begin an investigation and identify if the patient has been anywhere in public to create a timeline to help determine when and where their symptoms started.
Once officials receive confirmation of a positive measles test, Maag said they will notify the public of potential exposures.
In total, Montana has confirmed 23 measles cases across four counties, with the first five identified in Gallatin County in April. However, as of Wednesday, Gallatin County has had 15 cases. Hill County health officials reported four cases, and Flathead and Yellowstone counties reported two cases each.
The county established an online portal for measles cases and exposure data on its public health website. The website also has a measles self-report form for the public to use if they believe they were exposed and an immunization record request form for people to check their vaccination status.
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