March for Life attendees may have been exposed to measles, DC health officials say

Health officials in Washington, D.C., said Sunday that attendees of last month’s March for Life rally may have been exposed to measles, amid a nationwide outbreak of the disease. 

D.C. Health said in a notice it was “notified of multiple confirmed cases of measles whose carriers visited multiple locations in the District while contagious” and “is informing people who were at these locations that they may have been exposed.”

Those locations include the March for Life, which took place Jan. 23 on the National Mall. Thousands of anti-abortion advocates gathered for the event, which dates back to 1974. 

Among the other locations where people may have been exposed to measles were the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Jan. 21, various locations on the campus of Catholic University of America on Jan. 24 and 25, Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 26, multiple metro trains on Jan. 26 and 27, and the Amtrak concourse at Union Station on Jan. 27.

Children’s National Hospital also said on its website that a Virginia resident visited its emergency department while contagious with measles on Feb. 2 from 11:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. EST. 

D.C. Health and Children’s National recommend that those who may have been exposed to measles and are not immune should call their health care provider, D.C. Health at 844-493-2652 or their local health department. People should watch for symptoms, including a runny nose, watery red eyes, coughing and/or a rash starting on the head and spreading down the body, until 21 days after exposure.

Those who develop symptoms should isolate at home and away from others immediately, D.C. Health and Children’s National said.

As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 733 measles cases nationwide, with 3 percent resulting in hospitalizations. Last year, the CDC confirmed 2,276 measles cases, the highest number of cases since the disease was declared eliminated in the U.S. at the turn of the century.

Last month, the U.S. hit 12 straight months of measles transmission, meeting a key condition for losing its elimination status. 

The CDC recommends two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to protect against the illness. The public health agency notes that 95 percent of those who have contracted measles in the U.S. this year are unvaccinated.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, urged Americans to get vaccinated against measles Sunday.

“Take the vaccine, please. We have a solution for our problem. Not all illnesses are equally dangerous, and not all people are equally susceptible to those illnesses. But measles is one you should get your vaccine [for],” Oz told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.”