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BOSTON -- The Boston Public Health Commission today reported a second confirmed measles case in Boston. The patient is a woman in her 20s who lives in the same building as the employee at the Park Square Building in the Back Bay who was the first confirmed Boston measles case last month. Confirmatory laboratory tests are pending on several suspected measles cases, and those results are unlikely to be available until sometime next week.

The suspected measles cases include a faculty member at University of Massachusetts Boston. The Commission’s Infectious Disease Bureau yesterday asked that students, faculty, and staff at the university who have been exposed to the faculty member and who do not have proof of immunity to measles to refrain from public activities until 21 days after their last exposure to the professor, or until measles is ruled out as a diagnosis.

Measles is an airborne virus that is spread person to person through the air. People are considered immune to measles if they have had two doses of measles-containing vaccine (MMR) or have had a blood test showing that they are immune to measles. If people do not know their immune status, they should try to locate immunization records and monitor themselves for symptoms.

Symptoms usually begin 10 to 12 days after exposure to a person with measles, but can be delayed for as long as 18 days. Early symptoms include a high fever, runny nose, cough, and red, watery eyes. A skin rash usually occurs two to four days later and begins on the face but soon spreads to other parts of the body. If a person thinks they have symptoms of measles, they should telephone their health care provider.

                                                            -BPHC-