Health warning issued after woman with measles went to 'Avengers: Endgame' screening

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
A woman with measles went to a midnight screening of "Avengers: Endgame" last Thursday night in Fullerton, Calif., and the Orange County Health Care Agency warns that movie-goers may have been exposed. (Photo: Getty Images)
A woman with measles went to a midnight screening of "Avengers: Endgame" last Thursday night in Fullerton, Calif., and the Orange County Health Care Agency warns that movie-goers may have been exposed. (Photo: Getty Images)

Moviegoers who saw Avengers: Endgame at a Fullerton, Calif., movie theater late last Thursday night into Friday may have been exposed to measles.

An unidentified 20-something woman from nearby Placentia took in a midnight showing of the action flick — which had a record-breaking opening weekend — at the AMC Dine-In theater in Orange County. The Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA) cautions that people in the theater from 11pm Thursday to 4am on Friday could have been exposed.

The HCA had been working with AMC to contact people who may have been there — and they’re being urged to review their vaccination history and monitor themselves for illness with “fever and/or an unexplained rash from 7 days to 21 days after their exposure (the time period when symptoms may develop).” Those who do see symptoms should stay at home and contact a health care provider immediately.

The woman, who had just returned from an international trip, didn’t know she had the very contagious virus. She visited many other public places — including Los Angeles International Airport — over a period of four days before she went into voluntary quarantine.

Measles is highly contagious and can cause complications, especially for young children and adults. Other symptoms include a cough and inflammation of the eyes. Of course, the MMR vaccine is the simplest most effective measure to prevent it.

In the U.S., there have been more than 700 measles cases reported in 22 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 70 percent of the people who contacted it were unvaccinated. It’s the highest number in 25 years.

Avengers: Endgame had the a historic opening at the box office — with $350 million in North America — and people flocked to theaters to see it. The film, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin.

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