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News >  Washington

Kids traveling from Washington develop measles in Hawaii

In this Jan. 25, 2019 photo, a sign prohibiting all children under 12 and unvaccinated adults stands at the entrance to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. A measles outbreak near Portland has sickened dozens of people in Oregon and Washington, with several more cases suspected, and public health officials scrambling to contain the virus say low vaccination rates are making the situation worse. Clark County Public Health said Sunday, Jan. 28, 2019, that the majority of the cases involve children younger than 10. (Gilliam Flaccus / AP)
In this Jan. 25, 2019 photo, a sign prohibiting all children under 12 and unvaccinated adults stands at the entrance to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Wash. A measles outbreak near Portland has sickened dozens of people in Oregon and Washington, with several more cases suspected, and public health officials scrambling to contain the virus say low vaccination rates are making the situation worse. Clark County Public Health said Sunday, Jan. 28, 2019, that the majority of the cases involve children younger than 10. (Gilliam Flaccus / AP)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two confirmed cases of measles in Hawaii were in unvaccinated children who traveled to Hawaii from Washington state.

Dr. Sarah Park, state epidemiologist for Hawaii, said Monday Washington public health officials told her office that the family had been exposed to measles as part of the ongoing outbreak in southwest Washington.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports she said public health officials went to see the family and advised them to remain in the home on the Big Island where they were staying unless they could show proof of vaccination. Park said the home was on a large and relatively isolated part of the Big Island.

The outbreak has sickened 35 people in Oregon and Washington since Jan. 1. Most of the patients are children under 10, and one child has been hospitalized.

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