Measles is designated by CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists as a nationally notifiable disease. Many states require health care personnel to immediately report a suspected measles case to local health officials so they may begin notification, isolation, quarantine, and reporting. Consult your state or local health department for rules specific to your jurisdiction.
The April 2019 Measles update to the Guideline for Isolation Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare Settings (2007) provided the following guidance for health care personnel who think a patient may have measles:
1. Measles-susceptible healthcare personnel (HCP) should not enter the room if care providers who are immune to measles are available.
2. Regardless of any presumptive evidence of immunity (including written documentation of adequate vaccination, laboratory evidence of immunity, laboratory confirmation of measles, or birth before 1957), HCP should use respiratory protection that is at least as protective as a fit-tested, NIOSH-certified N95 respirator when entering the patient’s room or care area.
3. If a measles-susceptible HCP is exposed to measles, a post-exposure vaccine should be administered within 72 hours (or immune globulin administered within 6 days, when available).
Surfaces potentially contaminated with respiratory droplets should be cleaned and disinfected using an EPA-registered low- or intermediate-level hospital disinfectant.