Measles?

[Postdatedpandemic]

DH (teacher) came home from work today saying Head Teacher had announced that student A won't be in for a few days because he has measles.
WTAF
First quarter 2021 only one confirmed case in the UK

Anyone heard of other cases?

What's the AIBU? Contagious illnesses will be lower til now due to lockdowns but will naturally rise as mixing does.

Unfortunately it's becoming more and more common as anti-vaxx groups pressure people not to vaccinate their kids. Countries which hadn't had any measles cases in years were having it reintroduced by tourists (pre-Covid obviously)

Are you sure they don’t mean German measles (rubella)? Although dangerous it’s less so than measles and certainly used to be more prevalent, pre-MMR. Are you in an area where vaccination rates are low?

It’s frightening to see previously eradicated illnesses reviving because of widespread anti-vax beliefs. I never thought I’d see measles back in circulation in my lifetime.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/995676/NOIDS-weekly-report-week24-2021.pdf

NOIDS report shows that infectious diseases are much lower than usual.

It says in the first half of this year there were 40 cases of measles

There was a measles outbreak in the nutjob rich hippy town of Totnes Due to vaccine refusal a few years ago - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-36655707

www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/22/this-isnt-hippy-stuff-totnes-parents-defiant-over-vaccines

My AIBU was the casual way measles was dropped into an end of day meeting. There are a few pockets of low vax rates about. The school caters for niche behavioural SEN and has a huge catchment area. Operates as one bubble, only one isolation period for covid.

I have assumed that
1 - infectious diseases were at a low due to covid restrictions
2 - notifiable disease would be taken seriously

We are both over 50, so therefore assumed to have acquired immunity naturally, no vaccines. Not that concerned about personal risk. DH was just a bit stunned at the blasé attitude.

It's still possible to get measles even after being vaccinated - DC1 did. Yes, it's a notifiable disease, but if like my child they were only really well enough to go to be tested after 14 days of having the illness, they slip through the net.

Hi nurse here. Off the top of my head there were about 800 cases in 2019 so it's not actually that uncommon. The report for this year just won't be out yet so it doesn't mean there haven't been other cases in the UK.

Oh I know about the fallibility of vaccines, DC2 had whooping cough. Fully vaccinated, only a mild case, left with minor lifelong issues. Vaccines are not quite the magic wand some assume.

I think I expected the school to have some sort of action plan. Look out for these symptoms...something.

I haven't had the vaccine. Had asthma as a child and they wouldn't give me one due to this.

I read the wrong line on the chart, sorry everyone. In weeks 1-24 of this year, the cumulative total is 107.

This is down on 2020 (lockdown began during those weeks) with 557, and pre-pandemic 2019 with 1208

@Postdatedpandemic

My AIBU was the casual way measles was dropped into an end of day meeting. There are a few pockets of low vax rates about. The school caters for niche behavioural SEN and has a huge catchment area. Operates as one bubble, only one isolation period for covid.

I have assumed that
1 - infectious diseases were at a low due to covid restrictions
2 - notifiable disease would be taken seriously

We are both over 50, so therefore assumed to have acquired immunity naturally, no vaccines. Not that concerned about personal risk. DH was just a bit stunned at the blasé attitude.

What else would you like them to be doing? If the authorities have been notified and the kid isn't in school, it's up to PHE to assess contacts and advise on the need for isolation etc. Unlike Covid it is not standard practice to send a whole class home if one tests positive.

I don't think there is/needs to be an action plan for 1 measles case. Isn't it notifiable so that PH can know and monitor local outbreaks? Isolated measles cases happen as vaccines don't always prevent. We're too used to covid and all the isolations, whole year groups sent home, contact tracing etc. I don't remember that ever happening for anything else except maybe a couple of days closure for cleaning where there's been widespread norovirus

It's pretty normal to have little outbreaks of measles. The affected DC have to isolate, but it becomes a concern only if the number start rising in an area (I'm not sure if there's a rule of thumb, 30 is in the back of my mind for some reason, but I suspect it's actually lower) . Because once it takes hold it can start spreading rapidly (it's R0 is 12 or higher) so a large proportion of those not immune will readily catch it once it is circulating.

A quick google will show you the guidance for schools, which is very basic.

Confirmed and likely cases should be excluded from nursery or school for at least 4 full days after onset of rash (day 4 after rash onset where the date of rash onset is day 0). Given the high risk of secondary infection following measles, it is advisable to return to nursery or school only after full recovery.
Susceptible contacts of cases (For example unvaccinated siblings) are at high risk of developing measles and should be advised to self-exclude from school for the incubation period.
Cases considered unlikely may be suffering from other infections, some of which may have public health implications (For example scarlet fever, roseola (HHV6 infection) – see differential diagnosis in Appendix A1) and therefore, general advice about staying away from school during the acute illness should be provided.
A health care staff member or appropriate senior staff at the institution (For example the school nurse and/or welfare officer, head teacher, health and safety officer or student health advisor) should be informed of all cases that are likely or confirmed. Schools should be asked whether they are aware of any vulnerable students or teachers, even if not yet exposed, so that their status can be assessed and steps taken to reduce the risk of future exposure. Head teachers may wish to consider excluding unvaccinated pupils who have been exposed, because of the risk to other students. An appropriate letter/fact sheet should be sent to the school/nursery for dissemination to parents (nursery/school) or students (higher education setting). The local NHS England Screening and Immunisation team and/or Director of Public Health (DPH) for the local authority (LA) should also be informed.
More detailed information about infection control in school settings can be found in the PHE guidance on infection control in schools and other childcare settings