AN URGENT warning has been issued to patients who visited a city's A&E department as they may have been exposed to measles.
The trust that runs University Hospital of North Durham (UHND) urged anyone who attended on May 24 to look out for symptoms.
People who attended between 9pm and midnight may have been exposed to the infection.
A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington's NHS trust said: "You (and anyone with you) may have had contact with a person who had measles.
"This means that if you (or your child if they were with you) are not fully vaccinated against measles with two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, you or your child may be at risk of developing measles."
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The trust added: "You should speak to your GP or NHS 111 if you or your child get a high temperature with a cough, runny nose, sore red eyes or rash in the 3 weeks after attending the A&E at UHND at the same time as someone with measles.
"You should try to call your GP or NHS 111 before visiting them in person. This is to avoid spreading measles to others.
"Tell your doctor that you or your child attended the department between 21.00hrs and midnight on 24th May 2024 and that you may therefore have been in contact with someone who has measles.
"It can be difficult to know when to seek help if your child is unwell. If you are worried about your child, especially if they are aged under 2 years old, then you should seek medical help."
Measles infects the body through the respiratory tract, before spreading to cause a fever, cough and trademark rash.
A red blotch first appears on the forehead, before spots rear their ugly heads all over the skin and inside the mouth.
The dreaded infection is considered highly contagious.
The scare comes with new measles cases surfacing around the country.
As of April, the total number of cases since 1 October 2023 was 1,109, according to government data.
A burst in cases towards the end of 2023 was driven by an breakout in Birmingham, with that now stabilising.
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The West Midlands has accounted for nearly half of all cases since October.
But now the government is concerned of cases rising in London.
In the four weeks following March 18, 40 per cent of cases were in the nation's capital, with the West Midlands in second at 25 per cent.
Around 12 per cent of cases were recorded in the East Midlands.
Most (63 per cent) contracting the infection are kids aged under 10.
Vaccine rates and rising cases
The UK was declared measles-free in 2017 but lost that status in 2018 as a drop in vaccination rates allowed for a resurgence of the virus across Europe.
Only 84 per cent of kids have had both MMR vaccine doses by age five; this figure needs to be above 90 per cent to stop outbreaks.
There were 1,603 suspected cases of measles in England and Wales in 2023, a sharp increase from 735 cases in 2022 and 360 in 2021.
Since January, the NHS, UKHSA and local authorities have been urging millions of parents and carers to book their children in for missed MMR vaccinations.
Between January 1 and March 24, there were a total of 360,964 MMR vaccinations delivered, the NHS figures show.
