The United States is currently dealing with the worst outbreak of measles since the disease was considered eradicated in the nation back in 2000. The outbreak has hit 22 states and has recently made headlines for being detected in Southern California.The large population there already makes the possibility for widespread infection significant, but the timing is also unfortunate. A woman infected with the disease may have infected a large number of people when she attended one of the first screenings of Avengers: Endgame last week.
According to NBC 7 in San Diego, the woman attended the AMC Theater in Fullerton on Thursday, April 25 for a midnight screening. People who were in that theater beginning at 11:00 PM that evening are being asked to contact their health provides as they may have been exposed.
Measles is an incredibly infectious disease, and so places like movie theaters where large numbers of people are in very close proximity to each other, are perfect for the spread of the disease. The fact that the biggest movie in years, that's drawn record numbers of people to theaters over the last week, has been released in the middle of this outbreak, is simply the worst kind of luck.
The woman in question apparently had just returned from a trip abroad, so it's being implied that she may have contracted the disease elsewhere in the world, rather than getting it from another person during this recent domestic outbreak.
Because of the infectious nature of the disease people who have been diagnosed are being put in quarantine or being asked to voluntarily quarantine themselves. It doesn't appear the woman knew she was carrying the disease when she went to the theater, as people can be infections before symptoms even begin to present.
The majority of the cases come from those who were unvaccinated.
Certainly, nobody who was going to check out a midnight showing of Avengers: Endgame was expecting to have to deal with a serious disease. Those in the theater for the midnight screening that the infected woman was in certainly run the greatest risk but anybody in the building could have been infected and even those who arrived after the woman left could have contracted the disease simply by touching the wrong thing.
Because some AMC theaters were running later than usual screenings of Avengers: Endgame in order to deal with the high demand, even more people than usual could have potentially been exposed.
Hopefully, this infection will run its course and the herd immunity of vaccination will help prevent it from spreading to those who are unable to get vaccinated. While no movies as big as Avengers: Endgame are likely to come out this summer, this is the season for theaters to be full of people, and with that comes increased risks that could potentially last all summer.
