Iowa Officials Warn Of Measles Exposure At Independence Hotel

We're already dealing with the flu at the moment.

It's been almost exactly 6 years since COVID-19 was declared a national emergency and there were warnings anytime an infected individual went somewhere.

Now, there's such a warning from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services but this time, it's a disease we all know very well.

The officials report that a person from Illinois with confirmed measles was traveling to eastern Iowa recently. Iowa HHS is notifying people where they traveled to.

The exposure details are these:

• Comfort Inn & Suites, Independence, IA, 2100 Swan Lake Blvd
• Wednesday, March 4 5:30 p.m.-Thursday, March 5 at 9:00 a.m.

It's still recommended you get the vaccine if you haven't yet. As of March 5th, a total of 1,281 confirmed measles cases have been reported in the U.S. Of those, 93% were unvaccinated.

It's important to note that so far this year, no measles cases have been reported yet in Iowa.

Measles can remain in the air for around 2 hours after an infected person leaves a space. We all know the measles symptoms to watch out for: fever, cough, rash, red/watery eyes, runny nose.

As for the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, it's suggested that a person have one dose at 1-1 1/2 years old, and a second dose at 4-6 years old. Anyone born after 1957 and is unvaccinated or unsure of their immune status is at a higher risk for contracting measles.

So basically it comes down to every year's observation: if you know you're sick, just don't go anywhere. It's not worth the risk.