Category: Communicable Disease

New measles exposures in Pierce and King Counties

.Reading time 9 minutes.
10 icons of people. One is red, the others are yellow. Text: Measles is highly contagious and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is so contagious that if one person has it, 9 out of 10 people of all ages around him or her will also become infected if they are not protected. Logo: CDC

UPDATE (5/17/19): New exposure locations have been identified since this blog was posted on May 12. All exposure locations in King County, including those from previous cases, are updated at kingcounty.gov/measles/cases. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and Public Health – Seattle & King County are investigating a measles case with possible exposures in both counties. The […]

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Measles case in traveler to King County

.Reading time 8 minutes.
10 icons of people. One is red, the others are yellow. Text: Measles is highly contagious and spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is so contagious that if one person has it, 9 out of 10 people of all ages around him or her will also become infected if they are not protected. Logo: CDC

Update (5.6.19): Latest locations/times are listed in the table below in bold. Original post: A Canadian resident from British Columbia who traveled to the Seattle area in late April 2019 has been diagnosed with measles. The traveler, a man in his 40s, has since recovered from his illness. Prior to arriving in King County, he […]

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Locally-acquired hepatitis A case in person living homeless

.Reading time 9 minutes.

A King County man in his forties has been hospitalized with a confirmed case of hepatitis A, a highly contagious virus that can cause severe liver disease. The patient has been living without permanent housing and has a history of illicit drug use.   Because he has not travelled outside King County during the period […]

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An update on the increased HIV risk among people who inject drugs in King County

.Reading time 7 minutes.

As the Insider reported last summer, there has been an unusual increase in the number of HIV infections among people who inject drugs in King County. A new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article describes the increase in detail, and we summarize some of the key findings below: In 2018, a total of 30 women […]

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Happy National Public Health Week? Our House is On Fire…

.Reading time 7 minutes.

By Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer Six months ago, after the release of the comprehensive Fourth National Climate Assessment, I wrote about the many harmful health effects due to climate change that we are currently experiencing and that we can expect to increase, such as longer and more severe pollen and allergy seasons; increases in […]

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Increase in locally acquired hepatitis A cases in King County

.Reading time 8 minutes.

Five locally acquired cases of hepatitis A infection and an additional case that may also have been acquired locally have been reported to Public Health – Seattle & King County since November 2018. These cases add to three other hepatitis A cases reported in July 2018 for a total of nine cases in less than […]

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