State wants schools to monitor students’ vaccination status amid measles outbreak
With measles cases hitting a recent high of 62 in the Chicago region, state officials are asking schools to check students’ vaccination status and encourage shots to reduce risk of infections.
As of Friday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 58 measles cases in Chicago, two in suburban Cook and Lake County, and two in Will County.
The majority of those falling sick are children under the age of 5, Chicago Department of Public Health records show. Most infections are connected to a shelter for newly arriving migrants in the city.
The IDPH on Monday sent a letter to state regional offices of education asking that schools review immunization records for all students.
The outbreak in the metro region has “subsequently resulted in multiple exposures in schools in the affected areas. Measles is highly contagious especially in school-aged children,” officials said.
“Schools shall keep susceptibility lists by disease category with the names of students who are not fully vaccinated. This would be needed if students must be excluded from school during an outbreak,” the IDPH noted.
“This includes students who are not completely vaccinated due to religious exemption, medical exemption” and other exceptions.
The state is also urging educators to follow up with families of students who are unvaccinated and provide them with information about the disease, the vaccine and exclusion policies.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Department of Public Health announced Thursday that public health workers had administered about 14,000 MMR vaccines since early March when the first measles case was reported. The MMR shot protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
New cases of measles reported in Chicago have gradually declined, the CDPH said, with three reported this week compared to 22 the week of March 24.
Measles can result in a high fever, coughing, rash and conjunctivitis. The virus circulates in a room for up to two hours after an infected person sneezes or coughs. The infection rate is about 90% for those who aren’t immune.
The measles vaccination rate for K-12 students statewide is estimated at 96.2%, which exceeds recommended levels. But it’s lower for kindergartners at 91.7% as of 2022, the IDPH said.
Meanwhile, more than 690 schools fall below the 95% vaccination rate that triggers herd immunity, Illinois State Board of Education records show.
The U.S. introduced a measles vaccine program in 1963, which almost eliminated the disease.
Prior to that the virus was widespread with nearly 90,000 cases reported across Illinois in 1938. The recent Chicago area outbreak represents the most infections in at least two decades with the highest comparable tally of 59 occurring at a downstate Illinois college in 1994, IDPH records show.