The measles outbreak that hit visitors to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure did not leave workers there unscathed. Five employees of the theme parks were infected.
Three employees, called "cast members" in Disney lingo, have returned to work and two are still out sick, according to Dr. Pamela Hymel, chief medical officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Cast members who were in close contact with infected employees were put on paid leave until their immunity against measles could be determined. The company has offered vaccinations against measles and immunity tests to cast members since the outbreak became known on Jan. 7.
Several dozen cases of measles have been confirmed in people who visited either of the theme parks in December. Several more have occurred in people who caught it from those park visitors. The cases were diagnosed in California, four other states, and Mexico.
The two theme parks are located in Orange County, CA, where 18 cases of measles have been diagnosed. A student at Huntington Beach High School in Orange County was confirmed to have measles, leading to 23 unvaccinated students being sent home from the school. California law requires schoolchildren to be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella, but parents may get an exemption simply by signing a personal belief waiver. Some parents choose not to have their child vaccinated because of a mistaken belief that the vaccine is linked to autism. This supposed link has been disproved several times by research.
Measles is an extremely contagious viral infection. It is transmitted though coughing or sneezing.
Symptoms usually appear with 7 to 14 days of exposure. Initial symptoms include a high fever, spots in the mouth, a runny nose, and red eyes. The signature rash that covers most of the body appears two to three days after the onset of illness. Usually the infection lasts 7 to 10 days unless it is complicated by a bacterial infection or another viral infection, such as pneumonia. Before antibiotics, measles pneumonia had a death rate of 30%.
