Approximately two dozen people in a single Beijing office building have contracted the measles, prompting health officials to order quarantines and emergency vaccinations, according to a South China Morning Post report.

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

The downtown Beijing Kaiheng Centre is home to the state-owned Bank of China and some 3,500 workers.

Since the beginning of the year, Beijing has seen 68 measles cases.

In 2014, China reported more than 107,000 measles cases and 26 deaths, according to a World Health Organization report.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne viral disease transmitted from one person to another by direct contact or droplet spread.It initially presents with a prodrome of fever, cough, conjunctivitis, and coryza. A generalized maculopapular rash is then seen two to five days after the onset of the prodrome. Koplik spots on the buccal mucosa may be present for three to four days prior to rash onset but not at time of rash. Individuals, especially children, are typically unwell.The most important clinical predictors are the following features:

  • generalized maculopapular rash, usually lasting three or more days, and
  • fever (at least 38°C, if measured) present at the time of rash onset, and
  • cough or coryza or conjunctivitis.

Measles is transmitted by airborne droplets and direct contact with discharges from respiratory mucous membranes of infected persons and less commonly by articles freshly soiled with nose and throat secretions.

Measles is highly infectious and can persist in the environment for at least 30 minutes.

The incubation period is variable and averages 10 days (range: 7 – 18 days) from exposure to the onset offever, with an average of 14 days from exposure to the onset of rash. The infectious period of patients with measles is five days before, to four days after, the appearance of the rash.

It is a serious illness that causes permanent brain damage in one in every 1,000 patients and is fatal in three out of every 1,000 patients.