Two Californian universities order 238 unvaccinated staff and students to stay at home after infection scare in worst measles outbreak in the US for 25 years!
* UCLA and Cal State in Los Angeles said as many as 500 people may be at risk
* An infected student attended classes in two UCLA buildings earlier in April
* UCLA chancellor, Gene Block, said the time frame for symptoms is nearly over
* Almost 700 measles cases have been recorded across the US this year
More than 200 university students and staff have been quarantined in Los Angeles because of a measles outbreak.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State) has ordered 238 people to stay at home.
As many as 500 may have been exposed to the measles virus by a student who developed the disease earlier this month, officials said.
The drastic actions comes as the worst measles outbreak for a quarter-century is gripping the US, with almost 700 people infected already in 2019.
A total of 156 people at Cal State were unable to prove they had been vaccinated against measles so have been ordered to stay away from campus.
Another 82 at UCLA – where the infected student attends – faced the same treatment because they couldn't give evidence they were protected from the illness.
In a statement on the college's website, UCLA chancellor Gene Block said experts at the university were working with health officials to monitor the situation.
The infected patient is thought to have been contagious when they attended classes in Franz Hall and Boelter Hall buildings April 2, 4 and 9.
Dr Block said: 'Considering the time that has elapsed since the last possible exposure to the individual with measles on April 9, the highest risk period for developing measles has already passed – and the period during which symptoms may appear is nearing the end.
'I know there is concern about measles, particularly among the very small percentage of our community who have not been vaccinated.
'Please be assured that we have the resources we need for prevention and treatment, and that we are working very closely with local public health officials on the matter.'
Measles, a highly infectious virus, tends to cause symptoms including a cold-like illness, fever, white spots in the mouth and a blotchy rash within 10 days.
The US has recorded 695 cases of measles already this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – the highest in the same period for 25 years.
Most of these have been in New York (around three quarters of all cases) and Washington, with 38 confirmed in California.
According to a CDC report released on Monday, measles has been reported in 22 states already this year.
This week, officials in Southern California warned they expect more measles cases to come after confirming five in Los Angeles.
And officials in Northern California warned of a potentially large outbreak after a man with measles went to the cinema in Redding, just north of Sacramento.
More than 76 per cent of California patients were people who had not been vaccinated, and anti-vaccine sentiment is believed to be to blame for rising rates.
A rise in measles in the US is coinciding with soaring rates around the world – globally, there were 300 per cent more cases in the first quarter of 2019 than the same period in 2018.
There were around 112,000 patients recorded in January, February and March, up from 28,000 last year.
Anti-vaxxers, who avoid vaccines because of inaccurate fears the jabs don't work, are harmful, or could cause autism, are believed to be driving this rise.
A report by children's charity UNICEF this week revealed 2.6milllion American children were not given their first MMR vaccine between 2010 and 2017.
This was alongside 287,000 in Canada, 608,000 in France and 527,000 in the UK.
Head of the NHS in England, Simon Stevens, said: 'It is grossly irresponsible for anybody to spread scare stories about vaccines.'
Is Andrew Wakefield's Discredited Autism Research To Blame For Low Measles Vaccination Rates?In 1995, gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield published a study in The Lancet showing children who had been vaccinated against MMR were more likely to have bowel disease and autism.
He speculated that being injected with a 'dead' form of the measles virus via vaccination causes disruption to intestinal tissue, leading to both of the disorders.
After a 1998 paper further confirmed this finding, Wakefield said: 'The risk of this particular syndrome [what Wakefield termed 'autistic enterocolitis'] developing is related to the combined vaccine, the MMR, rather than the single vaccines.'
At the time, Wakefield had a patent for single measles, mumps and rubella vaccines, and was therefore accused of having a conflict of interest.
Nonetheless, MMR vaccination rates in the US and the UK plummeted, until, in 2004, the editor of The Lancet Dr Richard Horton described Wakefield's research as 'fundamentally flawed', adding he was paid by a group pursuing lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.
The Lancet formally retracted Wakefield's research paper in 2010.
Three months later, the General Medical Council banned Wakefield from practising medicine in Britain, stating his research had shown a 'callous disregard' for children's health.
On January 6 2011, The British Medical Journal published a report showing that of the 12 children included in Wakefield's 1995 study, at most two had autistic symptoms post vaccination, rather than the eight he claimed.
At least two of the children also had developmental delays before they were vaccinated, yet Wakefield's paper claimed they were all 'previously normal'.
Further findings revealed none of the children had autism, non-specific colitis or symptoms within days of receiving the MMR vaccine, yet the study claimed six of the participants suffered all three.
WHAT IS MEASLES? Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that spreads easily from an infected person by coughing, sneezing or even just breathing.
Symptoms develop between six and 19 days after infection, and include a runny nose, cough, sore eyes, a fever and a rash.
The rash appears as red and blotchy marks on the hairline that travel down over several days, turning brown and eventually fading.
Some children complain of disliking bright lights or develop white spots with red backgrounds on their tongue.
In one in 15 cases, measles can cause life-threatening complications including pneumonia, convulsions and encephalitis.
Dr Ava Easton, chief executive of the Encephalitis Society told MailOnline: 'Measles can be very serious.
'[It] can cause encephalitis which is inflammation of the brain.
'Encephalitis can result in death or disability.'
Treatment focuses on staying hydrated, resting and taking painkillers, if necessary.
Measles can be prevented by receiving two vaccinations, the first at 13 months old and the second at three years and four months to five years old.
Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital
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Topic: Two Californian universities order 238 unvaccinated staff and students to stay (Read 2659 times)
February 23, 2010, 04:40:46 am
