Alexandria Health Department (AHD) is advising residents about potential exposures to measles in Virginia's Northern Region.  Exposed people are encouraged to fill out a short survey (details below).

Full details are available in a news release from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) titled, “Virginia Health Officials Investigating a Confirmed Measles Case and an Exposure in Northern Region.”

The patient is a pre-school age child (0-4 years). Additionally, VDH was notified of a confirmed case of measles that is a resident of another state who traveled through Ronald Regan Washington National airport on January 26. 

Virginia health officials are coordinating an effort to identify people who might have been exposed. Listed below are the dates, times, and locations of the potential exposure sites: 

• Heathcote Health Center, located at 15195 Heathcote Blvd. in Haymarket between 1:15 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Thursday, January 29.
• Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Terminal 2, located at 2401 Smith Blvd, Arlington between 12:30 pm and 10:30 pm Monday, January 26.
• Washington Area Metro on Monday, January 26:
  • Yellow Line Train from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport station transferring at the Gallery Place – Chinatown station to the Red Line Train heading towards the Glenmont station between 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Any additional exposure sites identified in Virginia will be posted to the VDH Measles website. 

What To Do

If you were exposed at the places and times above, read the news release for instructions. Here’s a summary:

Now:

• Report Your Exposure as soon as possible. All people who were present at the places/times above should fill out this short survey for the Virginia Department of Health.
  • Health officials will contact you if you need to take more steps or can receive time-sensitive treatment.
• Check Your Vaccination Status: Make sure you’ve had your recommended measles (MMR) shots. Tips for checking your status are written below.
  • If you’ve had two doses of measles vaccine, were born before 1957, or have had measles, then you’re considered protected and won’t need to take extra steps.
• If you are severely immunocompromised, please talk to your doctor for specific advice or contact your local health department (details below).  

Over the next few weeks: 

• If you were exposed, born after 1957, and are not fully vaccinated: Watch for symptoms for 21 days after you may have been exposed. If you get symptoms, stay away from others and call the doctor right away. Symptoms include:
  • Runny nose
  • Fever over 101°F
  • Cough
  • Red, watery eyes
  • Rash

If you have questions about a potential exposure, email epi_response@vdh.virginia.gov or call AHD at 703.746.4988 during normal business hours. 

How to Check Your Measles Vaccination

Hearing about measles in our community makes many people want to know their vaccine history.

The best way to know if you’ve gotten your recommended measles vaccines is to ask your doctor to check your vaccine record. For children, ask their pediatrician.  

If you got vaccines in Virginia, you can also check online using the Virginia MMR record portal. Several other states also have similar systems.

If you haven’t had the recommended vaccines, you can get the MMR shot from your doctor or a pharmacy in Virginia.

Learn more about measles, symptoms, and vaccines on the VDH measles website.  

If you prefer communication in another language, free interpretation and translation services are available to you, please email LanguageAccess@alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.3960. 

For media inquiries only, please contact Brookie Crawford at brookie.crawford@vdh.virginia.gov.