Tuolumne County confirms two measles cases, warns of exposure at high school and emergency room

The Tuolumne County Public Well being Division on Wednesday confirmed two measles circumstances a day after it opened an investigation into the attainable infections.

The division stated the circumstances concerned an grownup and a toddler underneath 18 who lived in the identical family and had traveled internationally. It’s unclear whether or not the people had been vaccinated towards measles, a extremely contagious and probably lethal illness most frequently related to a excessive fever and rash.

On Tuesday, the division stated it was investigating the circumstances for measles and warned of potential publicity at Summerville Excessive Faculty in Tuolumne between March 10 and 11 and at Adventist Well being Sonora Emergency Division between the night of March 15 and morning of March 16.

“We perceive that there could also be quite a lot of questions and issues. The investigation continues to be ongoing, and we are going to present updates as they’re out there,” Michelle Jachetta, the county’s public well being director, stated in a Wednesday assertion confirming the circumstances. “We wish to remind the general public that measles is a extremely contagious illness and to take steps to guard your self and your loved ones by guaranteeing present vaccination standing for measles, monitoring for signs, and staying dwelling if you really feel sick.”

Michael Merrill, superintendent of Summerville Union Excessive Faculty District, additionally issued a press release this week saying the district “takes the well being and security of its college students, workers and our neighborhood critically” and that the varsity would work with public well being officers “via the method of figuring out any danger.” Greater than 430 college students attend Summerville Excessive Faculty, in keeping with its web site.

Tuolumne County’s circumstances come amid a lethal measles outbreak that started within the South Plains and Panhandle area of Texas in January and has since contaminated 279, making up the overwhelming majority of greater than 300 confirmed circumstances throughout 15 states to this point this 12 months. An unvaccinated school-aged baby in Texas died from the illness in February.

The California Division of Public Well being reported Thursday that there have been at the very least eight confirmed circumstances of measles within the state this 12 months. They haven’t printed the areas of the circumstances.

Tuolumne County reported a few of the state’s decrease vaccination charges within the 2023-2024 college 12 months, in keeping with knowledge printed this week by the state public well being division.

Solely 89.8% of Tuolumne County kindergarten college students have been updated on all their immunizations, in comparison with 93.7% of kindergartners statewide. And solely 93.1% of kindergarten college students had obtained each doses of their measles, mumps and rubella photographs, considerably decrease than the 96.2% statewide common. California sometimes publishes vaccination charges for a handful of grades, together with kindergarten, first grade and seventh grade.

Public well being consultants say a 95% vaccination charge, generally referred to as “herd immunity,” is mostly thought-about the gold customary of illness prevention. A slip of even one or two share factors can create a chance for illness to unfold, which means that even when the overwhelming majority of kids are vaccinated, it might nonetheless take only some circumstances to spark an outbreak in an space the place immunization charges have fallen beneath 95%.

California reported a decline final 12 months within the share of kindergarten college students who have been immunized towards measles, regardless of strict legal guidelines that make it troublesome for fogeys to skip photographs for his or her youngsters. That features 16 counties the place measles immunization had fallen beneath the herd immunity threshold.

An improve in vaccine hesitancy lately, coupled with widespread disinformation on-line and rising political division, might make it even more durable to encourage immunization, stated former state Sen. Richard Pan, a Sacramento Democrat who wrote California’s vaccine legal guidelines.

“We appear to be heading the mistaken route,” Pan stated. “We’ve been feeling fairly comfy, like ‘we’re OK.’ However we all of the sudden now show to folks, it’s not OK.”