Recognizing Measles in Your Patients

Identify

Consider measles in any patient with fever and rash, especially if the patient:

• Is unvaccinated or not up to date with measles vaccine, MMR
• Lives in or visited an area where measles is circulating in the past 21 days
• Had known exposure to a case of measles in the past 21 days

Isolate

• Promptly isolate any suspected patient. Do not allow patients with suspected measles to remain in any public areas, such as waiting rooms, open triage areas, or other common areas.
• Place a mask on the patient and their caregivers until they are isolated.
• Ideally, use a single-patient, airborne infection isolation room (AIIR). If an AIIR is not available, place the patient in a private room with the door closed, and use of HEPA filtration unit in the non-AIIR, if available, is advised. The patient should wear a mask for the duration of time if placed in a non-AIIR.
• Pre-Visit Telephone Triage may be used to reduce the risk of exposure. Key facts to gather include, symptoms, presence of measles in your community, if the patient spent time outside the country in the last 21 days, and if and when the patient received one or more MMR vaccines.
• If there is concern for measles, instruct the patient and family to don face masks prior to entering the facility and to notify staff immediately about the concern for measles.
• If referring a patient with suspected measles to a healthcare facility, the referring provider should contact the receiving facility in advance so they can safely prepare for their arrival.

Photo credit: Immunize.org

Photo Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention