A student has tested positive for measles at a California school with a high number of unvaccinated children, according to state public health officials.
The Nevada County Public Health Department said the unnamed student attended the Yuba River Charter School and showed symptoms at the school earlier this month. Nevada County is in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near the California-Nevada border.
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“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,” said Dr. Karen Smith, the director and State Public Health Officer at the California Department of Public Health. “Immunization is the best way to protect against measles. Two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine are approximately 97 percent effective at preventing disease in exposed persons.”
The school was closed Tuesday, extending its spring break by a day. It is set to reopen Wednesday, but only for students who have been vaccinated. Those students who have not been vaccinated will not be allowed back until at least April 8.
According to Smith, the student showed measles symptoms after traveling overseas. Though the student has since recovered from the virus, there is concern other unvaccinated children may have been exposed. Data from the California Department of Health shows Yuba Charter School has a low rate of vaccine compliance, it is classified as “most vulnerable” to outbreaks. Furthermore, only 44 percent of kindergartners at the school are up to date on their MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) shots.
School records also show there were 225 students at school on the day of the exposure, and that 124 of them do not have vaccinations.
The measles virus is airborne and one of the most infectious ones in the world, unprotected people exposed to it have a 90 percent chance of being infected. Health officials advise at least 95 percent of people should be vaccinated to create a so-called “herd immunity” to prevent outbreaks. Symptoms of measles include diarrhea, ear infection and pneumonia, though rare severe complications can occur resulting in encephalitis (brain inflammation) or death.
Many parents as of late have been refusing to vaccinate their children because of the belief they lead to autism, despite decades of medical research concluding otherwise.
