The measles test results on a Bridge City baby have not been completed. Orange County Emergency Joel Ardoin said he talked with health officials Monday afternoon and the results may not be available until mid-week.
Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont, where the blood for the test was drawn, reports the child has been feeling better. The parents took the 9-month-old girl, who has a twin sister, to her pediatrician after she developed a fever and a rash.
The hospital reports the pediatrician conducted a strep test, which was inconclusive. So the child was taken to the hospital’s emergency room to have blood drawn for the measles test and a throat swab. The baby and the parents were kept separate from other people at the hospital and wore masks. The staff wore masks and gowns.
In the statement, the hospital said its staff is trained to handle communicable diseases, but measles “has been incredibly rare.”
Measles were declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, however some parents became wary of vaccinations after a debunked study. The highly-contagious disease has seen an increase in the U.S. in the past few years.
The Bridge City baby is too young for a measles vaccine, which is given between the ages of 12 and 15 months. The child’s mother wrote on Facebook that she supports vaccinations and her daughters are up to date on the ones appropriate for their age. /
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