No new measles cases have been reported at Miami’s Palmetto Senior High School after one student was diagnosed with the highly contagious disease — Florida's first such case — say Miami-Dade school and state health officials.
Authorities said they are continuing to monitor the school in Pinecrest for any potential outbreak of measles and are advising parents of students who think they may have had contact with the ill student.
“Everything is very stable,” Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Jose L. Dotres told reporters Thursday at a news conference. He noted the school in Pinecrest had a vaccine rate of 99.7%.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, speaking at a press conference in Tampa on Wednesday with Gov. Ron DeSantis, said state health officials were not aware of any other measles cases in Florida and had communicated with the student who contracted measles.
In a letter sent home to parents of Palmetto Senior High students, state health officials stressed that the state Department of Health is deferring to parents over keeping their kids at home, despite their vaccination status.
"Their preferences and choices for their healthy kids are going to be respected," said Lapado at the press conference.
He did point out the availability of the measles vaccine in South Florida and echoed the advice of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., that taking Vitamin A is a treatment option for patients with measles, despite worries from disease experts.
"That's completely a good idea for anyone who is severely ill from measles," he said.
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Parents of students at the high school first learned of the student diagnosed with measles on Tuesday when they received an email blast and automated voicemail from the school’s principal, Victoria Dobbs.
"While the risk of transmission may be low for vaccinated individuals, we are taking all necessary precautions while working closely with local health authorities to ensure the health and safety of our school community," Dobbs said in the voicemail message.
Senior Ariane Guenther was shocked and disappointed when she heard a measles case was confirmed at her school.
Her dad has multiple sclerosis, a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. Even though she and her family are vaccinated against measles, she’s worried about potential exposure.
“It's putting my dad at risk, and it's putting me at risk, and all of my friends and their families at risk as well,” Guenther said. “It's ridiculous.”
Measles — which was declared eliminated by the World Health Organization in 2000 — is rare in the United States. But many fear a widespread resurgence amid an outbreak in rural West Texas that’s infected more than 150 people and killed at least one child.
Last year, a Broward elementary school had seven reported cases.
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Measles cases also have been reported in New Mexico, Alaska, California, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island — and now Florida.
The disease is a viral infection, and is passed through respiratory droplets. Symptoms begin with fever, headaches, a runny nose, sore throat, cough and red, watery eyes— like many other viruses. But measles typically includes a rash.
To gauge how contagious a given disease is, physicians may turn to R0, or basic reproductive number, which estimates the number of cases of infectious diseases that can stem from one person.
For measles, that number is between 12 and 18, according to the National Library of Medicine. For a virus like the seasonal flu, that number is estimated around 1.28.
“The average (for Measles) is probably about 15, but up to 18 people can be infected from one person,” said Dr. Jyoti Somani, the Associate Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Antimicrobial Stewardship for Jackson Health System.
That’s assuming all 18 people have not received the MMR, or Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine.
“Amazingly, the measles vaccine is highly effective,” Somani said. “The efficacy from one dose is 93% and two doses is 97%.”
The MMR vaccine is typically administered in two doses. The first being at 12 months of age and the second when a child is between 4 and six years old.
“This was eradicated in 2000 in the US,” Somani said. “So it's kind of like we're going back in time, just because people don't want to get the vaccine, which is quite sad.”
Guenther, the student at Palmetto Senior High, said she is vaccinated, but still “feeling the same fear that I did with COVID for sure… My dad, he's been keeping up with his booster shots and everything. However, you know, things happen.”
Where to get the vaccine
Miami Palmetto Senior High School is coordinating a free MMR immunization drive March 10 through 14 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for unvaccinated students with parental consent.
The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach Counties administer immunization, including the MMR vaccine, to all children up to 18 years old free of charge.
Miami-Dade County requires appointments that can be made by calling 786-845-0550. In Broward, immunization services are only available at their clinic in the Lauderhill Mall on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Monroe County clinics are located at the Gato Building in Key West and Ruth Ivins Center. And for appointments in Palm Beach, call 561-625-5180.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
