New case prompts daycare center closure
A baby is one of the latest victims of the California measles outbreak, prompting the closure of a child-care center on the Santa Monica High School campus which regularly cares for 24 infants and toddlers.
The infant is younger than 12 months and therefore hasn’t been immunized for the measles, said Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District spokeswoman Gail Pinkser. The child is enrolled in the infant care program at the Samohi Infant/Toddler Center, where children age from 6 weeks to 3 years. Most of the kids enrolled at the high school daycare center are the children of staff members; three are the offspring of students.
The incident is the second measles case confirmed on the high school campus in recent weeks. The first case involves a freshman walk-on baseball coach, who was diagnosed with the virus after coming into contact with 70 baseball players, all of whom had been vaccinated.
The school district first learned about the measles case over the weekend, and reached out to parents letting them know about the indefinite closure of the daycare center, and encouraging them to get their kids immunized as a precaution. They have assured to keep working with the LA County Department of Public Health to determine the extent of exposure among those in the center.
Among students at Santa Monica High School, 7 percent have waivers for various personal, religious, or medical reasons excusing them from the state-required MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine.
District-wide, 11.5 percent have waivers, Pinkser said. “We are seeing more incoming kindergarteners whose parents have chosen to immunize their students,” she continued. “And some of our current students have gone off waiver.”
As of Monday, Feb. 2, there are a reported 91 cases of measles state-wide, 58 of which can be linked to visitors, employees or those who came in contact with them at the Disneyland theme parks over the holidays. Ten counties have confirmed cases.
Measles cases have also been confirmed in Arizona, Utah, Washington, Michigan, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, and Mexico.
(With reports from Los Angeles Times)
