Measles exposure at Delnor, Midway reported

The public was exposed to the measles after an infectious Illinois resident arrived at Midway International Airport last week and then sought treatment Sunday at the emergency room at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Health officials are working to notify those who were on the infected person's flights, according to a news release. The person had been traveling overseas where cases of measles are frequently found. The passenger had not been vaccinated.

People who were at Midway between 9 p.m. and midnight Feb. 22 may have been exposed. Exposures could have also occurred in the hospital's emergency room between 11:45 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. Sunday, and people who were in the hospital at all from 4 to 6:15 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday also could have been exposed, the release said.

People who received routine vaccinations during childhood aren't at high risk of contracting the disease, but those who haven't been vaccinated are, the release said.

People who think they've been exposed should call or email their health care provider before going in to receive treatment as special arrangements need to be made, according to the release.

Symptoms, which include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, could develop as late as March 20, the health department said, noting that complications caused by measles can include pneumonia and swelling of the brain.

Measles can be spread through the air when someone coughs or sneezes and with contact with the mucus or saliva of the infected person. This case isn't related to the four cases reported in Champaign County earlier this month, health officials said.