Editor’s note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Two Chicago hotels are on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s list of places where people may have been exposed to measles.
The department is warning anyone unvaccinated against measles who was at the listed locations and times specified to call their health care provider within the specified time frame to receive post-exposure medication, as 23 cases of measles have already been confirmed this year.
The IDPH lists two Chicago hotels next to Chicago Union Station and a restaurant in Edwardsville as exposure locations on its website, along with the date of exposure and a window that people who may have been exposed should watch for symptoms.
Springhill Suites, a Mariott hotel located at 2357 S. Wentworth Ave., and Swissotel Chicago, located at 323 E. Wacker Dr., are both on the list, however, the symptom monitoring window closed for the exposure at the Swissotel on September 18.
Sixteen of Illinois’ confirmed cases this year came from an outbreak in Douglas and Moultrie counties in the eastern part of the state involving people who were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination histories, IDPH said. There were also cases that were not linked to an outbreak in Kane and Madison counties.
“Measles is a highly contagious disease that can easily spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes, or through direct contact with secretions from the nose or throat of an infected person. Although measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, it has seen a resurgence in recent years due to a decline in national vaccination rates,” IDPH said in a press release.
Gn Health
