SALT LAKE CITY — Utah public health officials on Thursday became aware of two more people diagnosed with measles, bringing the total cases in the state to five.
One of the newly identified individuals with measles is a minor and the other is an adult, according to a news release from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. One person is a Utah County resident and the other is from the southwest health district.
Additionally, two of the five Utahns who have been diagnosed with measles had to be hospitalized due to complications but have since been released.
“Among the five positive cases that have been reported, two of the people diagnosed with measles in Utah are unvaccinated, pregnant Utahns,” said the release.
Thursday’s additions to the measles count in the state follow closely on the heels of two other measles diagnoses on Tuesday, also from Utah County and the southwest health district.
Health officials on Tuesday said during the first person’s “infectious period but prior to diagnosis,” the person visited “several” public places. This included the Timpanogos Regional Emergency Room on June 14 between 2:14 p.m. and 7:02 p.m., and the Parkway Health Center in Orem on June 13, though no specific time was given.
Early stages of measles symptoms — high fever, cough, runny nose or red eyes — usually appear seven to 14 days after exposure. A rash typically appears after four days of fever.
Anyone who has been exposed to measles or is showing symptoms should call a health care provider first before visiting a clinic to prevent spreading the disease to others, the department said.
“A large majority of Utahns (more than 90%) have been vaccinated against measles and are highly protected against infection,” the health department said. “Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause serious illness, especially in young children, pregnant women and people who have weakened immune systems.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.