The University announced yesterday that a Wharton graduate student was diagnosed with measles, less than a week after the news that three students had contracted meningoccocal infection.
The student is stable and is now resting at home under the care of physicians, according to Evelyn Wiener, the director of Student Health Service.
Wiener said while doctors cannot determine exactly when the student was exposed to the virus, his symptoms began to appear about Wednesday or Thursday of last week.
Measles is a rare virus that can be recognized by its distinctive rash. In severe cases, it can result in hearing loss, brain damage or death.
Common early symptoms of measles include rash, high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. The disease is airborne, meaning it can be spread through coughing and sneezing in addition to sharing food or drinks.
However, the "potential for people to die as a result of measles is far less than with meningococcal" infections, Wiener said.
She added that the student received a preliminary diagnosis of measles yesterday. SHS has since been compiling a list of students who may have had close contact with the infected student and asking them to come in for preventative treatment both last night and today.
The infected student was away from campus during much of the virus's incubation period and was only on campus and in class for one day while infected, Wiener said. Students in those classes have been contacted for treatment.
Wiener stressed that most of the Penn community has no reason for concern, since the measles, mumps and rubella - or MMR - vaccine is "highly effective."
Unlike meningococcal infection, of which there are five separate strains, "there is only one measles," Wiener said, and the vaccine protects against it.
The MMR vaccine is required for all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of whether they live on or off campus.
Some students are exempted from the immunization requirement for medical or religious reasons. These students, Wiener said, make up less than 0.5 percent of the total student population.
Measles is spread much more rapidly than meningococcal infection, Wiener said, but since almost all students have been vaccinated against the virus, there is a "high level of immunity" on campus.
"What we have is a situation in which we have many more people who are immune, but we know the virus spreads in a very different way," she said.
The last case of measles on Penn's campus was in August 2001.
Anyone who is experiencing these symptoms should seek treatment at SHS.
