Over 30 Alameda County Children Put In Isolation Over Measles Outbreak
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – As the number of measles cases rise in California, more than 30 children in Alameda County have been put in isolation because of the outbreak.
Jennifer Simon's six-month-old daughter Livia is among the children quarantined. For three weeks, Livia has been unable to leave the house or be around other children.
Both Jennifer and Livia got the sniffles on January 2nd and went to Kaiser in Oakland, where they were told they simply had colds. Two days later, the phone rang.
"We received a call that evening, saying your daughter may have potentially been exposed to measles," Jennifer Simon told KPIX 5.
MEASLES OUTBREAK:
- Bay Area Health Officials Say Certain Demographics More At Risk After Disneyland Measles Outbreak
- Measles Outbreak: To Vaccinate Or Not Vaccinate
It turns out a purposefully unvaccinated child with measles had visited the same Kaiser office within a few hours of Jennifer and Livia. Now Livia is one of 30 babies in Alameda County that have been put on home isolation after possible exposure to the measles.
Kaiser said in a statement, "We worked closely with the Alameda County Public Health Department and California Department of Public Health to trace and contact...all persons potentially exposed to these cases. We are pleased that no additional cases were identified during the monitoring period."
With only a week left of quarantine, Livia has not shown any signs of the measles. Her mother wants to spread the word about the importance of vaccines.
"People say that it's a personal choice not to vaccinate, but it's a personal choice with a lot of possibly catastrophic consequences for other people," she said.
There are now at least 75 cases of the measles in six states, most of them in California. Most had not been vaccinated for measles. Seventeen of the cases are not connected to a measles outbreak at Disneyland.