Urgent health warning after baby boy is diagnosed with a potentially fatal infectious disease
Health authorities have issued an urgent warning after a one-year-old boy in Adelaide was diagnosed with measles.
The one-year-old had just returned from abroad with his family and is recovering in a stable condition in hospital.
South Australian health officials were notified of the infectious child, who had traveled to the state on a flight from Sydney.
Before that, the child had been in Dubai and flew into the country on flight EK416 to Sydney on June 11.
From there, the boy and his family traveled from Sydney to Adelaide on flight QF749 on the same day.
Health authorities have issued an urgent warning after a one-year-old boy who traveled to Adelaide via Dubai and Sydney was diagnosed with measles (stock image)
He was at Adelaide Airport on June 11 before attending the SA Pathology and Benson Radiology clinic at Modbury Hospital on June 13 and surgery at Salisbury Downs on June 14.
The boy also visited the Women and Children’s Hospital on June 15.
“SA Health advises anyone who has not been fully vaccinated, and especially those who were at the locations at the times below, to be alert for symptoms in the coming weeks and to consult a doctor if they become ill,” a statement from SA Health said .
Due to the highly contagious nature of the disease, officials are advising anyone who has not been fully vaccinated to be alert for symptoms in the coming weeks.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that infects the respiratory tract and later spreads throughout the body.
Symptoms include coughing, high fever, runny nose, and large rash all over the body.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that infects the respiratory tract, later spreading throughout the body (stock image)
The disease can affect anyone but is most commonly seen in children, with vaccination recommended as the best way to avoid getting sick or spreading the disease to others.
Before the measles vaccine in 1963, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused the deaths of an estimated 2.6 million people annually.
This is the sixth recorded case of the disease in South Australia this year, while only three cases were recorded last year. Officials say most measles cases in Australia come from overseas visitors or people returning who have not had two doses of the vaccine.