The count still stands at six children who have fallen ill with measles at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston.
On Wednesday afternoon, the health department offered vaccinations at the school, and at the same time, the superintendent briefed the school board on the status of the outbreak.
“The health department is currently at the school until 6 p.m. today offering vaccine opportunities,” said Dr. Peter Licata, superintendent of Broward County Public Schools. “Currently there are 33 of 1,067 Manatee Bay students that do not have MMR vaccine for various reasons.”
Licata visited the school Tuesday and said Manatee Bay was 92% vaccinated. On Wednesday, he clarified that by saying the percentage is closer to 97% of students who have had at least one dose of the MMR vaccine.
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That’s better, but not enough to prevent the measles outbreak. Infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty of Florida International University said the pandemic interrupted the vaccine schedule for about 60,000 kids nationwide.
“We need to have 95% of the population resistant to measles to not have measles outbreaks," Dr. Marty said. "When you see a measles outbreak, it’s very simple, there are too many susceptible people, why is that the case? Because this is the most contagious virus that we know of for humans."
“One of the issues that the doctors tell us is six is the known cases — there’s probably a good chance that there’s gonna be more than that in the future,” said school board member Allen Zeman, who is among those worried the disease will keep spreading. “In my view, we gotta figure out what’s best for the whole community, not what’s best for the people who’ve chosen not to get vaccinated.”
The Florida Department of Health released a letter Tuesday from Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo emphasizing how contagious measles is and how effective the MMR vaccine is in preventing the disease, but Ladapo did not urge parents to immunize their children.
“He does not, which is an interesting letter from a surgeon general," Zeman said. "I believe evidence is overwhelming that people ought to get vaccinated."
“The letter doesn’t explicitly say we need to get more people vaccinated, and that is a key point that families need to know,” Dr. Marty said.
The letter did say parents at Manatee Bay can opt to keep their kids home for a 21-day quarantine period if they’re worried about them being susceptible to measles. If they’re vaccinated, Ladapo reiterates what the medical community agrees on, they are 98% protected against measles.
Dr. Marty says unless your child is immunocompromised, they should get the MMR vaccine — it’s safe and highly effective.
