More than 130 unvaccinated students at two South Carolina schools are being quarantined after they were exposed to measles amid an ongoing outbreak in the state. Public health experts warn it's a sign that cases could continue to rise this school year.
On Tuesday, the South Carolina Department of Public Health confirmed This is the 16th case of measles in the state this year. Last week, health officials said The media briefing said more than 100 unvaccinated students at Global Academy and Fairforest Primary School had contracted measles and would be excluded from school for 21 days, which is when the period of potential transmission of the disease has ended.
Of the state's 16 cases, five are people who were infected in schools and have been quarantining at home for the past several days, according to South Carolina health officials.
Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, says the fact that students in South Carolina contracted measles demonstrates why people should be concerned about a rise in cases as children return to class.
“We have a growing population of susceptible children whose parents have chosen not to vaccinate them,” Offit says. “This is the most contagious human infection, and it is not surprising that as children return to school and we enter the winter and early spring months, you see a rise in this virus again.”
The outbreak in South Carolina comes as measles cases are rising across the country. Measles cases in the United States peaked this summer. 33-year all-time highleading public health experts to warn that other diseases could experience a similar resurgence. Minnesota is also in the midst of an outbreak; as of last week there is 20 confirmed or probable cases in the state this year.
Health officials have stressed that the best way to protect against measles is to get vaccinated. measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinewhich is usually administered in two doses during childhood. Experts said the successful vaccination program was largely the reason measles was declared eradicated from the country more than two decades ago. But the vaccination rate fell sharply In recent years, the number of measles cases has increased sharply.
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), when more than 95% of people in a community are vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella, “most people are protected by community immunity.” But CDC data shows that in the 2023-2024 school year, only 92.7% of kindergarten teachers were vaccinated. In some parts of South Carolina, that number has dropped to about 90%, the data shows. government public health officials.
Read more: Do you need a booster vaccination against measles?
As of last week, the CDC confirmed This year, 1,563 cases of measles have been reported. Many of those cases are linked to an outbreak in Texas that began in late January, sickening more than 700 people and killing two unvaccinated children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
In August, Texas health officials stated that the outbreak was over, but they warned that there was no threat posed by the disease. At that time Offit said that while the outbreak in Texas has subsided, he fears the number of cases will rise again within months.
Offit also expresses concern that the number of cases in the country confirmed by the CDC is an undercount. He criticizes Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.vaccine skeptic who made number from changes country immunization policyFor detonation the ability of health authorities to track and control the disease.
“Not only do I think it's getting worse, but I think we won't know because surveillance capabilities have been so reduced by our Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Offit says.
