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The measles virus may have spread outside Salt Lake County, and public health officials are urging Utahns to get vaccinated earlier than usual.
"In an outbreak situation, we are encouraging people to get the second [vaccine] dose earlier," said Rebecca Ward, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health's communicable-disease program.
As of Thursday, all the state's nine confirmed cases had occurred in Salt Lake County. But because one of those patients attended two large events last week — potentially exposing about 1,000 people — the outbreak could spread beyond the county's borders.
Health Department spokeswoman Charla Haley said the person attended the events — a presentation by author Nicholas Kristof at Salt Lake Community College in Salt Lake City on April 11 and the Entrepreneurial Challenge Final Awards Banquet at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah on April 13 — before knowing they had the measles.
The state and the Salt Lake Valley health departments are seeking individuals who attended those events and who aren't naturally immune to the measles, or who hadn't received two doses of the vaccine against the virus.
They want those people to quarantine themselves in their homes until the infectious period has passed: April 29 for the Kristof speech and May 1 for the U. event.
Anyone who attended either event should call the Utah Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 and choose Option 6 on the recorded message, health officials said.
"The poison-control center line has been busy, and our hotline has been busier," said Nicholas Rupp, spokesman for the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
He said health officials are also contacting Salt Lake Community College students who attended the Kristof lecture and weren't fully immunized.
The expanded investigation has yet to lead to an increase in the number of confirmed or suspected cases, he said.
People who have had a previous measles infection or who were born before 1957 are considered naturally protected, even if they haven't had a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) immunization.
Health officials recommend that people born in or after 1957 receive two doses of MMR. People who receive one dose are considered 95 percent protected; two doses provides 99.7 percent protection.
Many adults born after 1957 probably haven't received two doses. Schools didn't start requiring two shots until 1999.
But even with the requirement, parents can sign a waiver to exempt their children from receiving the vaccine. The Salt Lake County outbreak occurred mostly among unvaccinated people. The ages of those affected range from 2 to 22, said Ward of the state Health Department.
She recommends adults get a second dose and that children get immunized ahead of schedule.
Normally, children get an MMR shot at age 12 to 15 months and age 4 to 6 when they enter school. But Ward said the vaccine can be given earlier, as long as the doses are spaced 28 days apart.
During an outbreak, children as young as 6 months old can receive the vaccine if they've been exposed to the virus.
Measles symptoms include a fever of 101 degrees or higher, cough, runny nose and a rash that spreads to cover the body.
The virus is transmitted by respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, and it is so contagious that 90 percent of people in close contact with an infected person will get the disease if they're not immunized.
People with the measles often don't know they have it — they may think they have a cold — until they develop a rash.
But they are infectious from the start of symptoms.
Health officials ask that those exhibiting symptoms quarantine themselves and call their health care provider before going to their offices or an emergency room.
That will allow the facility to take precautions to protect others from possible exposure.
Finding an inoculation
Measles vaccines are available from private health care providers and local health departments.
For a list of them,visit > ualhd.org/Department/Department.htm