LA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) - An urgent care clinic in La Mesa was shut down Wednesday after a measles exposure scare involving a baby.
A family brought an 8-month-old child to the Sharp Rees-Stealy La Mesa Urgent Care on Grossmont Center Drive at around 5:15 p.m. because they thought the baby had a rash.
However, doctors and nurses examined the child and immediately suspected the rash may be measles, according to Sharp spokesperson Frances Schnall.
The urgent care center was shut down by 5:45 p.m. to undergo a thorough cleaning, including a flush of its HVAC system.
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There were 16 other people inside the waiting room at the time the child arrived and there were concerns they might have been exposed.
Hospital staff took down their names and numbers, and Schnall said they would contact the patients to return for testing.
Because Sharp did not accept the family’s insurance, employees told the family to take the child to Rady Children’s Hospital.
The baby was tested by doctors at Rady Children’s Hospital and county public health officials, and Schnall said the child tested negative for measles.
So far, there have been no reported cases of measles in San Diego County.
The last reported cases of measles in the county were in 2017, according to public health officials.
