A spokesperson for Sutter Health confirmed at least one case of measles at one of its facilities in Santa Barbara County.
“We are aware of one confirmed case of measles connected to a patient who visited our care sites between July 29 and August 6. To protect patient safety, we cannot share additional information,” stated a Sutter spokesperson.
According to Independent sources, at least one cancer patient had been exposed to a measles patient at the Ridley Tree Cancer Center and was instructed to immediately go to the Cottage Hospital Emergency Department for immunoglobulin infusions — injections of concentrated antibodies. In addition, another three Ridley Tree cancer patients were reportedly exposed to an unvaccinated individual.
In a press release issued earlier this week, County Public Health confirmed one case in Santa Barbara County, but thus far requests for additional information have not been responded to. The department issued a press release explaining that people with compromised immune systems are considered at risk regardless of their vaccination status. That includes people undergoing cancer treatment, pregnant women, and infants younger than 12 months, as well as anyone who has not completed the two-dose Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
“County Health is actively investigating and coordinating with local healthcare providers,” the press release stated.
People who have not been vaccinated are encouraged to get vaccinated. Symptoms for measles typically include a rash, a rough, red and watery eyes. The rash typically starts three to five days after the other symptoms, starting on the face, hairline, and neck before spreading down to arms, legs, and trunk. Fevers as high as 104 degrees typically start when the rash appears. Someone with measles is usually contagious four days after the rash appears and four days after it disappears.
Measles is one of the most contagious of all diseases but had been effectively eradicated in the United States by the year 2000. As vaccinations have come under increasing resistance and vaccination skepticism has grown under the second administration of Donald Trump — with the appointment of vaccine doubter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Health and Human Services secretary — those numbers have crept back. Today, the U.S. has reported 2,465 cases with 57 of them in California. Most of these cases relate to international travel.
