A fresh measles case has triggered a new exposure alert in Adelaide, prompting health authorities to issue an urgent warning to South Australians. An infant who contracted the highly contagious infection overseas has visited several locations while infectious, including the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the ‘St Eufemia D’Aspromonte’ Italian Festival.
The infant was at the Flinders Park Football Club for the Italian Festival on Sunday, February 1 from 2pm to 4pm, potentially exposing attendees to the infection. On Wednesday, the infant visited the Women’s and Children’s Hospital SA Pathology Collection Centre from 4pm to 4.45pm, as well as the Emergency Department from 4.15pm to 5.10pm and again from 6.40pm to 7.10pm.
SA Health has advised those who are not fully immunized and who were present in these locations at the specified times to remain vigilant for symptoms over the coming weeks and to consult a doctor if they become ill. Symptoms of measles typically begin with fever, cough, runny nose, and sore eyes, followed by a blotchy rash that usually starts on the head and spreads down the body.
The health department emphasizes that the listed locations do not pose an ongoing risk. This alert comes just a day after a previous warning was issued for multiple sites across Adelaide, following a measles case involving a person who traveled on two trams and visited a busy swimming center on Australia Day. Although the cases are unrelated, this is the third reported case of measles in South Australia, with the first reported earlier last month.
