A second resident of San Luis Obispo County has contracted measles, according to a press release from the County of San Luis Obispo Health Agency.
The patient is stable and is now quarantined.
The infected resident is a child who had contact with the first adult measles case but was too young for a vaccination against measles. The child is under the age of one.
The best way to prevent measles is through vaccination, according to County of San Luis Obispo Deputy Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulkerin. Measles can spread quickly in communities where people are not vaccinated.
Measles can be spread through the air from person to person through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms generally appear about seven to 14 days after a person is infected. Initial symptoms are high fever, runny nose, cough and red, watery eyes. Two or three days after symptoms begin, tiny white spots may appear inside the mouth. A rash of tiny red spots will break out starting on the face and spreading to the rest of the body.
People with measles are contagious for about nine days, including four days before and four days after the rash.
Measles can be serious, especially for young children. It can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling of the brain) and death. While people in the United States can contract measles, it is not very common because most of the population is protected against measles through vaccination, the press release said.
Mikaela Duhs contributed to this report.