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Los Angeles County Health officials identified the first case of measles in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said Wednesday. The exposure reportedly occurred at McRory Pediatric Services, which is located at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway , said Dr. Jeff Gunzenhauser, the interim public health officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health.
Los Angeles County Health officials identified the first case of measles in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said Wednesday. The exposure reportedly occurred at McRory Pediatric Services, which is located at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway , said Dr. Jeff Gunzenhauser, the interim public health officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health.

Santa Clarita Valley Measles Case Reported

Los Angeles County Health officials identified the first recent case of measles in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said Wednesday.


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The exposure reportedly occurred at McRory Pediatric Services, which is located at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway, said Dr. Jeff Gunzenhauser, the interim public health officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health.

Click here for information on Measles from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

“The main message is that, this outbreak of measles is continuing,” he said. “The number of cases we’re seeing now is not as intense, but we’re continuing to see a few.”

Los Angeles County Health officials identified the first case of measles in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said Wednesday.  The exposure reportedly occurred at McRory Pediatric Services, which is located at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway , said Dr. Jeff Gunzenhauser, the interim public health officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health.

Los Angeles County Health officials identified the first case of measles in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said Wednesday.
The exposure reportedly occurred at McRory Pediatric Services, which is located at 28212 Kelly Johnson Parkway , said Dr. Jeff Gunzenhauser, the interim public health officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health.

There have been no other recent reported cases in the Santa Clarita Valley, he added, and no other health centers are believed to have been affected, based on their investigations so far.

Kindercare officials investigated a potential exposure last week, but officials cleared the patient in that case and determined the child did not have measles.

“What we’re doing is working with the pediatric office and identifying anyone who could have been in contact during these two days,” he said, referring to the dates of exposure in the office, which were Feb. 24-25.

“We’re looking at whether they’ve been vaccinated,” he said, “and if they haven’t been, then they’re excluded from coming back until (March 18).”

One of the most common questions asked after a reported case is, “If I go in there now, is there some chance I could get measles — and the answer is ‘no,’” said Gunzenhauser.

Measles is only contagious from people to people, and it doesn’t linger in the environment — it does linger in the air for a couple of hours, but this was a week ago, he said.

There’s a four-day period before skin rashes appear that an infected person is contagious, he added.

“We do a couple of things when we have a case — we ask them, during that period, about everything they did,” he said, “and any contact we can identify, we reach out to.”

No other locations were mentioned as possible sources of concern for Los Angeles County health officials in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“Part of the message is that people think, ‘Well, if it doesn’t happen where I exist… that kind of assessment really doesn’t provide safety,” he added.

There have been 28 cases in Los Angeles, and about 5-10 have been kids less than 12 years old, he added.

“I’m pointing that out, because that’s the group we’re trying to protect — pregnant woman, children under 1, and those with weakened immune system,” he said, listing those who couldn’t be vaccinated.

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Santa Clarita Valley Measles Case Reported

9 comments

  1. I am a local pediatrician at Prima Pediatrics in Canyon Country. Actually, I diagnosed the first case of Measles here about a year ago. It was reported to Public Health by both myself and the laboratory that reported the results. Perhaps, if that had made the news, the current epidemic could have been mitigated in some way.

    • I’m sure the “first case” was many years ago. There have been cases in the USA every single year, even during the years it was “eradicated” and the current rates of 2 new cases in the past week are quite few considering how many people caught it at Disney.

  2. Do you happen to know what school this unvaccinated child goes to, if it’s in Santa Clarita?

    • It seems like they failed to mention age and school. A complete story would be nice!

    • How do you know the child is not vaccinated? There is a possibility to catch the measles even though you have been vaccinated. Also, if someone has received the vaccination within the last few weeks they can also be contagious. No school was mentioned except for Kindercare and that was for a possible case which was not the measles after all. What was mentioned was the pediatric office in which the exposure happened.

  3. As a journalist you are obligated to be unbiased.
    You should include the fact that the MMR vaccine does not insure you won’t get the measles! And inform those that rush to get the shot that the measles vaccine sheds and they need to stay away from public for 2 week. Follow up to confirm this case is not “vaccine induced” measles and make readers aware.

  4. Tens of Thousands Exposed on the trains in SF!!! Blared the headlines a week ago. But only 2 new cases in the whole state the past week. Guess measles is not as contagious as they say or all these “dangerous pockets of unvaccinated schoolchildren” surely would’ve caught it by now?

  5. There were never any tests on the strain of measles but there is evidence that recently vaccinated can “shed” the virus – in other words THEY are contagious.

    search: CNBC Public Health Officials Know: Recently Vaccinated Individuals Spread Disease

    Washington, D.C., March 3, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Physicians and public health officials know that recently vaccinated individuals can spread disease and that contact with the immunocompromised can be especially dangerous. For example, the Johns Hopkins Patient Guide warns the immunocompromised to “Avoid contact with children who are recently vaccinated,” and to “Tell friends and family who are sick, or have recently had a live vaccine (such as chicken pox, measles, rubella, intranasal influenza, polio or smallpox) not to visit.

    A statement on the website of St. Jude’s Hospital warns parents not to allow people to visit children undergoing cancer treatment if they have received oral polio or smallpox vaccines within four weeks, have received the nasal flu vaccine within one week, or have rashes after receiving the chickenpox vaccine or MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine

    and on the CDC website: [search] CDC about nasalspray – for CDC admitting nasal flu spray shedding

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.