This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Measles case prompts charter school closure, quarantine in California
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
A student diagnosed with measles while attending a charter school in Nevada County, California, which maintains one of the lowest immunization rates in the state, prompted a school closure and an ongoing quarantine of unvaccinated students, state health officials reported.
An unvaccinated Yuba River Charter School student exhibited symptoms of measles after returning to California from international travel. After the initial school closure, public health officials issued a letter requesting that 55% of the student body — 124 students — remain at home until April 8, due to a lack of documentation of measles vaccination or immunity.
Karen Smith
“As the state’s public health officer, it’s concerning to receive a report of a child with measles because it’s a disease that can easily be prevented,” Karen Smith, MD, MPH, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a press release. “Immunization is the best way to protect against measles. Two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are approximately 97% effective at preventing disease in exposed persons.”
According to school records in 2015, only 43% of the students were properly vaccinated, which led the state health department to classify the school as “most vulnerable” to an outbreak.
The Nevada County Public Health Department reported that staff have either contacted or attempted to contact all of the families of students excluded from the charter school. While not all students were tested for measles, parents were asked to monitor for possible symptoms.
“Schools have a lot of movement and are fluid. We wanted to make sure anyone who was possibly exposed in that school who doesn’t have documentation of immunity was in a safe place,” Nevada County Public Health Officer Ken Cutler, MD, MPH, said in a statement. “I hope this raises the awareness that measles is just a plane ride away. It’s very important for people traveling overseas to be well-protected and vaccinations are your best defense.”