NSW Health is advising people to be alert for symptoms of measles after a man diagnosed with the disease visited the Lapstone Hotel while infectious.
The Illawarra man in his 30s, who has an uncertain vaccination history, had returned from travel to Thailand and was not connected to any other cases from NSW. He also visited a number of locations in the northern Illawarra.
The man spent time on Sunday, November 10 at the Lapstone Hotel at Blaxland between 11am to 6pm. He then travelled to the Illawarra.
Local public health unit staff are identifying people who have been in close contact with the case and arranging preventive treatment if required. People who have been in the same location at the same time as the man should be alert for signs and symptoms of measles until December 1. It can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear following exposure to a person with measles. Anyone who develops symptoms should arrange to see their GP and call ahead to ensure they don't wait alongside other patients.
Measles is highly contagious and anyone born during or after 1966 should ensure they have had two doses of the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine, which provides lifelong protection in 99 out of 100 vaccinated people. Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes and a cough followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body.
Measles is a vaccine preventable disease that is spread through the air when someone who is infectious with the disease coughs or sneezes. NSW Health makes the measles vaccine available free for anyone born during or after 1966 who doesn't have two documented doses of measles vaccine.
