Hospital Cracks Down on Measles : Disease: An 88% increase in number of cases prompts Memorial Medical Center officials to require patients under age 15 to show proof of immunization.

Memorial Medical Center this week began immunizing all patients under 15 years of age against measles because of an almost 88% increase in the number of cases in Long Beach since last year.

The surge in measles cases has been especially notable among Latinos.

“It’s important for us to minimize the risk (of infection) to all patients and visitors,” said hospital spokesman Ron Yukelson. “If (a child) comes here for a hernia, we don’t want (him) going home with the measles.”

Local health officials say they first began noticing an increase in measles, especially among young children, in 1989 when 100 cases, three of which resulted in deaths, were reported in Long Beach.

In the previous three years, they said, a combined total of only 13 cases was reported. And already this year, said John Aguirre, an epidemiologist with the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, 137 cases have been logged, an increase of almost 88% over the number reported by the same time last year.

While nearly all of last year’s cases were in the city’s Samoan community, Aguirre said, about 46% of this year’s are among Latinos. That proportion rises dramatically to 75% for patients under age 5.

Health officials attribute the high incidence of measles among Latino children to the fact that many come from poor families who do not have the money for private immunizations and may not be aware of where to go to get them free of charge.

Doctors have long recommended that all children be immunized against measles at the age of 15 months. Last year, Aguirre said, the county Health Department lowered the recommendation to 12 months because of the epidemic. As the disease spreads, he said, some officials are considering lowering it still further, especially in high-risk areas.

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center three months ago began requiring anyone under age 15 to show proof of immunization before visiting a ward. Now, Yukelson said, any child under 15 admitted as a patient to the hospital will also have to provide such proof or be immunized on the spot.

While parents who can afford it will be asked to pay the full price for the shots, Yukelson said, others will be charged on a sliding scale.

Spokesmen for the other two major hospitals in Long Beach, St. Mary Medical Center and Long Beach Community, said they have no plans to follow Memorial’s example, although they encourage all patients to be immunized.

According to Dr. Marion Johnson, the city’s chief public health officer, the disease--characterized by fever, a red blotchy rash, general malaise, runny nose and red watery eyes--is usually spread through coughing, sneezing or close contact. Complications from the infection, which usually lasts about 10 days, can include pneumonia and encephalitis, she said.

Armed with a recent state grant of nearly $30,000, Johnson said, the city’s Health Department is planning to step up its program of offering immunizations at its 2655 Pine Ave. headquarters for $2 per shot or $5 per family. Those unable to pay, she said, are given the immunizations free.

In addition, Johnson said, the city is planning an ambitious series of immunization clinics at neighborhood schools and other sites, particularly in hard-hit west and north areas of Long Beach. And city health officials, she said, already have visited several local emergency rooms to encourage medical personnel to watch for the disease.

“It’s too early to tell yet whether we’ve made any headway,” Johnson said. “(At least) we’ve got a strategy.”

Dr. Melvin Marks, medical director of Miller Children’s Hospital at Memorial Medical Center, was a bit more direct. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, “but we’re not seeing it yet.”