A Bucks County resident has been diagnosed with measles after a visit to Texas, health officials say
County officials said anyone who visited a Starbucks on South Eagle Road in Newtown during certain hours on March 19 should monitor themselves for measles symptoms.
A Bucks County resident was diagnosed with measles Wednesday, county health officials announced, and beforehand had visited several locations in the area while “potentially contagious.”
The adult patient had been vaccinated against measles and had recently traveled to Texas, health officials said in a statement.
They did not clarify if the case was directly connected to a widespread measles outbreak in West Texas that has killed a child and sickened 327 people, all but two of whom were unvaccinated. A small number of people can get measles after being vaccinated, especially amid an outbreak like that in Texas, but even then, the vaccine can prevent patients from serious illness.
Bucks County officials said the vaccinated resident who contracted measles had experienced “relatively mild” symptoms. They urged residents to get vaccinated to prevent the spread of the disease.
“Two doses of the vaccine will be 97 percent effective in preventing all illness. However, even though a vaccinated person can still get measles, they are more likely to experience a mild illness and are thus less likely to spread it,” David Damsker, the director of the county health department, said in a statement. “The best way to hold this virus in check is to have high levels of community vaccination rates.”
The county warned that anyone who visited the Starbucks at 2896 S. Eagle Rd. in Newtown, between 10:50 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on March 19 should monitor themselves for measles symptoms. They include a cough, runny nose, red eyes, headache, sneezing, and a red rash that begins on the face and neck.
Most people who contract measles see symptoms within 10 days to two weeks after their exposure, officials said.
Though the person also visited other locations in the country besides the Starbucks, county officials said that they had contact traced people who visited those other locations, and anyone exposed to the virus would be notified.
Anyone who believes they may have been exposed to measles and plans to seek medical treatment for it should call the health-care facility they’re planning to visit so staff can plan for the visit and minimize exposure to others, officials said.
The Bucks County case follows a handful of other measles diagnoses in the region in recent weeks, although no others were connected to a visit to Texas. A measles case was identified in February in a young child in Montgomery County who had recently traveled abroad and was too young to be vaccinated. Another measles case was diagnosed in a patient at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in early March.