United States: In the wake of a growing measles outbreak at a Florida elementary school, the state’s top health official issues advice that runs contrary to science and may leave the unvaccinated children at risk of catching one of the world’s most lethal pathogens, according to doctors and public health experts.
Top surgeon does not support vaccination against measles
The Florida surgeon general, Joseph A. Ladapo did not support the vaccination of the children by the parents or the keeping of the unvaccinated students away from school as a caution in a letter he addressed to the parents of the Fort Lauderdale area school on Monday, when the number of confirmed measles cases was six, as the Washington Post reported.
Moreover, instead of following the “normal” guidance by parents to keep unvaccinated children away from school for up to 21 days, Ladapo said that the health department will let the parents or guardians of these children make decisions on whether they should go to school or not.
Other health experts don’t agree with Ladapo
Scott Rivkees, Florida’s former surgeon general who is now a professor at Brown University said, “This is not a parental rights issue,” and, “It’s about protecting fellow classmates, teachers, and members of the community against measles, which is a very serious and very transmissible illness.”
As per the CBS News reports, nearly every person who is unvaccinated will catch the virus, given that they have been exposed to the measles virus.
This vulnerable group consists of children whose parents don’t get them immunized, infants too young for the vaccine, those who can not be vaccinated due to medical reasons, and more who don’t create a strong, lifelong immune response to it.
Dr. Rivkees assumes that approximately a tenth of the people in a community are among those at risk.
The CDC’s advice for students amid measles outbreak
The CDC suggests that unvaccinated students avoid school for the next three weeks after exposure.
Because measles, which is a highly contagious virus and in every breath can be spread through air and from touching contaminated surfaces, is considered to be high-risk students are considered exposed simply by sitting in the same cafeteria or classroom with an infected person.
According to CDC, a person can be infected with measles even before showing any symptoms of it such as fever, cough, rash, or any other signs of it.
Moreover, one in five patients with measles requires hospitalization while two persons out of ten develop middle ear infections and initially quit hearing but 1 in every 1,000 customers dies due to respiratory and neurological malfunctions, as CBS News reported.
Thresia Gambon, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician who practices in Miami and Broward, the county affected by the current measles outbreak said, “Measles is so contagious. It is very worrisome.”
Measles outbreak cases in the US
Measles outbreaks have been reported with increased frequency in recent years. Thus far in 2024, at least 26 cases in at least 12 states have been reported to the CDC, which is almost twice the number at this time last year.
Other than the six confirmed cases reported in the Florida school, cases have been rumored in Arizona, California, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York City, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Reasons cited for rising measles cases – by Experts
Experts stated that last year’s outbreaks are associated with a notable increase in parents getting exemptions in childhood vaccinations after major criticisms of COVID-19 mandates, political fervor, and the spread of false information about the safety of vaccines.
Because the particles of the measles virus can stay in the air and on surfaces for up to two hours after an infected person has left the place, up to 90 percent of the people without immunity will get measles if exposed.
Those infected or given full two doses of MMR vaccine are 98 percent protected and have very little chance of getting sick. That is why public health officials typically encourage it during the outbreaks.
John P. Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College said, “The reason why there is a measles outbreak in Florida schools is because too many parents have not had their children protected by the safe and effective measles vaccine,”
Moore said, “And why is that? It’s because anti-vaccine sentiment in Florida comes from the top of the public health food chain: Joseph Ladapo,” as the Washington Post reported.