A sixth student at Manatee Bay Elementary School outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been confirmed to have measles, health officials announced late Tuesday.
Despite this, unvaccinated students who may have been exposed are not being mandated to quarantine.
The school has a low vaccination rate, indicating that the highly contagious virus could potentially trigger a larger outbreak.
In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday evening, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, known for promoting anti-vaccine sentiments and misinformation, stated that unvaccinated students can forego the typically recommended quarantine period.
Ladapo’s letter, signed by him, highlighted that individuals with measles can spread the virus from four days before the appearance of the rash to four days after.
Although symptoms typically manifest between eight to 14 days after exposure, the disease can appear up to 21 days later.
Consequently, the standard quarantine period for those exposed and unvaccinated, who are highly vulnerable to measles, is 21 days.
“Due to the high level of community immunity and the impact on families and educational disruption when healthy children miss school, [the health department] is leaving it to parents or guardians to decide on school attendance,” the letter stated, setting the end of the infectious period as March 7, 2024, which may change with evolving circumstances.
Local reports indicated that over 200 students out of the school’s 1,067 were absent on Tuesday.
The cluster of measles cases originated when a third-grade student, without recent travel history, was diagnosed with the preventable illness last Friday.
Subsequently, three more cases were identified over the weekend, prompting the local health department to issue a health advisory.
Two additional cases emerged this week, although it is unclear if all six children affected are unvaccinated.
Data from a county vaccine study revealed that only 89.31 percent of the school’s students were vaccinated during the 2023/2024 school year, leaving approximately 114 students susceptible due to vaccination status.
Measles spreads easily through respiratory droplets and can remain airborne for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area.
Among susceptible individuals—those who are unvaccinated or have compromised immune systems—up to 90 percent may contract the virus upon exposure.
Fully vaccinated individuals are considered protected, with two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine being 97 percent effective.
Symptoms of measles include high fever, runny nose, red and watery eyes, cough, and a distinctive rash that appears after initial symptoms.
Approximately 1 in 5 unvaccinated individuals with measles require hospitalization, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while 1 in 20 infected children develop pneumonia and up to 3 in 1,000 children may die from the infection.
