Passenger With Measles At DFW Airport Possibly Exposed Others At 2 Terminals

KERA | By Anthony Cave

Published May 23, 2019 at 11:58 AM CDT

Passengers who traveled through DFW Airport May 15 may be at risk.

If you traveled through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on May 15, you might be at risk of getting measles.

Tarrant County Public Health said in a news release Thursday that a passenger on a connecting flight through DFW Airport tested positive for measles.

Exposures are possible if you were in any of the following areas:

Terminal D customs areafrom 5:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
The SkyLinkfrom 5:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Terminal A in the Gate 8 area from 6 p.m. to 10:50 p.m.

The county's health department said the people of most concern are those who have not been vaccinated, pregnant women and those with a weakened immune system.

Those who might be affected should watch for any symptoms — which include fever, cough and runny nose — until June 5.

The measles vaccine is about 97% effective after two doses. Children too young to be vaccinated, or who have only had one dose of vaccine, are most likely to get infected.

However, Dr. Trish Perl — an infectious disease specialist with Parkland Hospital System and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UT Southwestern Medical Center — told KERA last month that measles in adults can be far more serious than in children.

"The complication rate is much higher — pneumonia is an example," she said. "You can get what we call encephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain. So there are complications of measles, and we see those more commonly in adults."