South Australian health officials are tracing contacts after a person with measles visited the emergency department of Adelaide’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, ABC News reported on September 28. The new case is linked to a cluster at Brighton Secondary School and brings that cluster to five infections and the state’s 2026 total to nine, according to SA Health information reported by ABC.
The patient, a person in their forties, had a known exposure to the cluster’s first case and is in hospital in stable condition, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier said. The first case involved a person who returned from overseas and tested positive on September 14. Three students subsequently contracted measles, ABC reported.
SA Health said the patient was in the hospital emergency department waiting area for about five hours from 5:15 p.m. on September 23. The person then spent time in a fast-track area from 9:45 p.m. that evening until 8:15 p.m. the following day. Health workers are checking records to identify patients and staff who may have been exposed during those periods, Spurrier said.
Other newly listed exposure locations include two pathology collection centres, a pharmacy, shopping centres and a sports venue, according to ABC’s account of the SA Health alert. Spurrier said people who may have been exposed should watch for fever, cough, runny or blocked nose, conjunctivitis and a spreading red rash. Anyone developing symptoms should call ahead before visiting a doctor or hospital so precautions can be arranged.
The incident has widened the contact-tracing task beyond the school, but officials have not said that every visitor to the hospital was infected. Spurrier urged residents to check whether they have received two measles vaccine doses. Australian Medical Association South Australia president Peter Subramaniam also encouraged people to review their vaccination status as health authorities continue tracing contacts and updating exposure advice.
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