Alberta issues measles exposure alert for Stollery Children’s and U of A hospitals | CBC News
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The province is warning the public about potential measles exposure at the Stollery Children’s Hospital and University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton last week.
In a news release Wednesday, the advisory warned of potential exposures on Feb. 25 and Feb. 28.
On Feb. 25, the alert includes the following locations and times:
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic (1G1), exposure time period between 8:35 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Audiology Clinic (1G1), exposure time period between 8:35 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.
- University of Alberta Hospital Videonystagmography Services (1G1), exposure time period between 8:35 a.m. and 11:10 a.m.
- Stollery Children’s and University of Alberta Hospitals, public areas including the 112th Street main entrance to north elevators, second floor north pedway to 2E, between 9:10 a.m. and 11:25 a.m.
- Stollery Children Hospital Edmonton Oilers Ambulatory Clinic (2E) and Otolaryngology (ENT) Clinic, between 9:25 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- University of Alberta Hospital Pulmonary Function Lab, between 9:25 a.m. and 1 p.m.
On Feb. 28, the alert includes the following locations and times:
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, from 5:20 a.m. to 11:50 p.m.
- University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department, from 10:25 a.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Anyone at those locations during the specified times may have been exposed to the virus. The advisory notes that measles is an extremely contagious disease that spreads easily through the air.
Anyone born in or after 1970 who has received fewer than two documented doses of the measles vaccine and may have attended these locations at the specified times is at risk of possibly developing measles.
Symptoms of measles include:
- fever of 38.3 C or higher
- cough, runny nose and/or red eyes
- a rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down to the body and then to the arms and legs. The rash appears red and blotchy on lighter skin colours. On darker skin colours, it can appear purple or darker than the skin around it, or it might be hard to see.
Alberta has recorded 2,086 confirmed measles cases since the current outbreak began nearly one year ago.
The province is urging anyone with symptoms of measles to stay home and call the province’s measles hotline at 1-844-944-3434.