ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Oakland County Health Division has issued a notice about measles exposure at a medical office building at 3950 S. Rochester Road in Rochester Hills.
Officials say anyone who visited the building, which is on the corner of Rochester Road and South Boulevard, on Tuesday, June 3, anytime between 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. may have been exposed.
Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report below:
There are nearly 10 medical businesses inside including a cancer treatment center. Ildiko Svoren owns Pure Laser Med Spa inside the building and says hundreds of people go in and out of the building each day.
“Oh my God, the parking lot is full, daily," Svoren said.
The length of exposure that day and the fact that immunocompromised people frequent the building is a concern for Corewell Health infectious disease Dr. Matthew Sims.
"People get measles, it knocks their immune system out, like their normal responses drop off and it's part of what measles does," Sims said. "I don't know if that was an employee. I don't know if it was somebody who was just in the building the whole day. I don't know. Or they're just not sure exactly what time in that day it happened. But it was a very long period, so it's concerning."
Given that three days have passed since the possible exposure, health officials say Immune Globulin treatment will still be effective for high-risk individuals. The treatment is effective within six days of exposure. According to health officials, high-risk individuals include those who are pregnant, unvaccinated children under age 5 and those who have a weakened immune system due to illness and disease, including diabetes or HIV, malnutrition and/or medications.
If you are not eligible for the treatment, you should monitor for symptoms through June 24. If symptoms do develop, contact your health care provider. Anyone born in or before 1957 is considered immune to measles.
Measles can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of measles usually begin seven to 14 days after exposure, but can appear up to 21 days after exposure, and may include:
- High fever (may spike to over 104°F)
- Cough
- Runny nose
- Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis)
- Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of mouth (Koplik Spots) 2-3 days after symptoms begin
- A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on face, spreads to trunk, arms and legs 3-5 days after symptoms begin
According to officials, measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that is spread by direct person-to-person contact and through the air. The Health Division recommends that unvaccinated individuals aged 1 year and older receive the measles vaccination to protect themselves and those around them. Anyone who doesn’t have a record of two MMR vaccines, is unsure if they’ve been vaccinated, or is unsure if they’ve had measles in the past, needs to contact their health care provider.
The MMR vaccine is available through some health care providers, Oakland County Health Division offices in Southfield and Pontiac, and many pharmacies. Health Division offices are located at the following addresses:
- North Oakland Health Center, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Building 34 East, Pontiac
- South Oakland Health Center, 27725 Greenfield Road, Southfield
Health Division clinics' hours:
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Tuesday 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
- Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Visit www.oakgov.com/health for more information on measles, or contact Nurse on Call, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 800-848-5533 or noc@oakgov.com.
For up-to-date public health information, follow @publichealthOC on Facebook, X and Instagram. Click here for more information about measles in Michigan.
