THE "Avengers: Endgame": the first players exposed to measles

A woman in her twenties who attended a midnight premiere of "Avengers: Endgame" in California may have exposed the public from the opening night to measles, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The woman, who lives in Placentia, contracted the disease while traveling abroad, KTLA reported. She did not know that she was sick when she had attended the screening of the blockbuster movie in Fullerton, the station said.

Patrons at AMC Cinema on Lemon Street between 11pm. Thursday and Friday at 4 pm, the Los Angeles Times may have been exposed.

The woman also went to work for several days and went to an emergency room at a hospital while she was perhaps contagious, reported the Orange County Register.

She is the first person to have caught measles in Orange County this year, KTLA reported. Officials did not say whether the woman had been vaccinated against measles.

The number of measles cases in the United States is the highest ever recorded "since the disease was declared nationally eliminated in 2000," CNN reported.

In the US, 704 cases in 22 states in 2019, Fox News reported.

Most outbreaks have focused on communities with low vaccination rates, CNN reported.

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that children receive two measles vaccines, plus mumps and rubella vaccines.

Measles is highly contagious, resulting in characteristic red spots and rashes as well as a high fever, a cough, a runny nose and red, watery eyes, the CDC says.

Complications can include ear infections resulting in permanent hearing loss, pneumonia, swelling of the brain and death, the CDC reports. Out of 1,000 children who contract the disease, one or two will die.

"Avengers: Endgame", touted as the culmination of the first 22 films in the Marvel film universe, has grossed more than $ 1.4 billion worldwide since its first release last weekend.