Dear KHF Physicians and Practice Teams,

Kids Health First would like to make members aware of important operational and clinical insights recently shared during a Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) webinar focused on the South Carolina measles outbreak response and preparedness considerations for Georgia pediatric practices.

Additionally, on May 19, 2026, the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) confirmed measles in three members of a metro Atlanta family. All three individuals were unvaccinated and had recent international travel exposure. These cases bring Georgia’s total confirmed measles cases in 2026 to five.

Practices are encouraged to remain vigilant and review current workflows related to respiratory illness triage, patient isolation, staff education and measles preparedness planning.

View the Georgia DPH Health Alert available here which includes detailed clinical guidance, testing recommendations, reporting instructions and isolation protocols.

Key reminders and recommendations from both the GA AAP webinar and DPH guidance included:

• Consider measles in any patient presenting with febrile rash illness, especially with cough, coryza and/or conjunctivitis, particularly in patients with recent domestic or international travel or known exposure.
• Isolate suspected cases immediately. Do not wait for laboratory confirmation.
• Contact DPH before testing suspected cases, as DPH can help guide practices regarding evaluation, testing, specimen collection and reporting requirements.
• Report suspected cases immediately to your local District Health Office or the DPH Acute Disease Epidemiology Section at 404-657-2588 (business hours) or 1-866-782-4584 (after hours).

Operational recommendations discussed during the webinar included:

• Front desk and scheduling staff serve as the first line of defense in identifying potential measles exposure or symptoms before patients enter the office.
• Practices should consider implementing standardized triage algorithms for patients presenting with fever, rash, respiratory symptoms or possible measles exposure.
• Telemedicine and nurse triage were repeatedly emphasized as critical tools to reduce unnecessary in-office exposure.
• Practices may wish to implement office entry signage, website messaging and social media reminders asking families to contact the office before bringing in a child with suspected measles symptoms.

Additional exposure reduction measures discussed included masking symptomatic patients, triaging patients before entering the office when feasible and using alternate or back-entry pathways for suspected cases.

Presenters also emphasized the importance of establishing clear isolation workflows and environmental cleaning procedures for suspected measles patients. Several infectious disease experts recommended, when operationally feasible, evaluating suspected measles patients at the end of the clinic day to allow for terminal room cleaning afterward and to minimize potential exposure to other patients and staff.

Following evaluation of a suspected measles patient, practices should perform terminal cleaning and temporarily avoid use of the room until cleaning protocols are completed. View cleaning procedure guidelines from the CDC here.

Additional lessons learned from the South Carolina outbreak response included:

• Early incident command activation and coordinated communication improved response efforts.
• Delays in education and workflow standardization contributed to preventable exposures.
• Collaboration between pediatricians, hospitals, school nurses, public health teams and community partners was essential.
• Public communication and physician engagement helped reduce emergency department strain and encouraged early vaccination efforts.
• Presenters stressed the importance of proactively reviewing MMR vaccination status and using EMR tools to identify under-vaccinated patients.
• The webinar additionally highlighted declining MMR vaccination rates and increasing exemption rates across portions of the Southeast, reinforcing the importance of ongoing vaccine education and trusted physician-family conversations.

Thank you for your continued commitment to protecting children and supporting safe clinical environments across our communities.

The Kids Health First Team