Florida issues health warning over measles cases at Broward elementary school

Florida authorities issued a health warning after six cases of measles were confirmed at a Broward elementary school.

Last Friday, the county Health Department announced that a third-grade child at Manatee Bay School in the town of Weston had been diagnosed.

Since then, five more cases have been confirmed: three on Saturday, one on Monday and the last on Tuesday, of which their ages or what grade they are in have not been revealed.

The Department issued aNotice in which it expresses that it is "working with all partners, including Broward County Public Schools and local hospitals, to identify contacts who are at risk of transmission."

The Broward County health department said in a statement that it is "conducting an epidemiological investigation" of the measles outbreak and working to identify close contacts of those diagnosed, but that "all details related to the investigation are confidential."

John J. Sullivan, communications and legislative affairs officer for the Broward County Public School District, said in a statement that over the weekend it "took further preventative measures by deep cleaning school facilities and replacing its air filters".

There were no classes at the center on Monday. On Tuesday, activities resumed at their usual schedule.

According to areport According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the 2022-23 school year the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine) vaccination rate in Florida was about 91%, higher lower than the national rate, 93%.

The United States rate dropped from 95% since the 2020-21 school year. The World Health Organization estimates that the minimum necessary to achieve herd immunity against measles should be 95%.

Measles is very contagious and the MMR vaccine is crucial as there is no treatment or cure for the disease.

So far this year, 20 cases have been reported in 11 states. Last year, 58 cases were reported.

Charles Mitchell, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, toldNBC News that recent outbreaks may be due to a growing reluctance to vaccinate due to doubts about the usefulness or acceptance of vaccines.

"In the future I wouldn't be surprised if we started to see a recurrence of these cases. I mean, the fact that there were five cases of measles in this elementary school suggests to me that the vaccination rate may have decreased," he said.

In 2019, then-presidentDonald Trump urged Americans to get the measles vaccine, at a time when the number of cases of the once eradicated disease reached its highest levels in the country since 2000.

"They have to get the shots," Trump told reporters at the White House.

In the first four months of that year, federal health officials confirmed about 700 cases, in a reactivation that was concentrated in the states of New York, Washington, Michigan, New Jersey and California.

At the end of 2018,four children were detected with measles in Florida, which led health authorities to alert citizens to maintain the necessary care to prevent the disease.

All of the minors resided in the city of Sarasota and had interacted with each other. None were vaccinated against the virus.