Florida Surgeon General Contradicts CDC, Allows Unvaccinated Kids in Measles Outbreak

VaccinationPhoto byKristine WookonUnsplash

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo sent letters to parents of students at the Manatee Bay elementary school saying it's their decision whether to send unvaccinated children to school, despite the outbreak of measles, which is contagious. In doing so, he has subverted a public health standard that's long kept measles outbreaks under control.

Because the highly contagious measles virus spreads on tiny droplets through the air and on surfaces, students are considered exposed simply by sitting in the same cafeteria or classroom as someone infected.

Ladapo, who was appointed to head the public health agency by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is contradicting the CDC and defying science, saying a "high immunity rate" in the population allows him to defer to parents. That is contradicted by the evidence.

The CDC advises that unvaccinated students stay home from school for three weeks after exposure. Measles can be transmitted before any symptoms show in the infected person. "Most people who have not had the vaccine will get measles if exposed."

Measles often prompts a restriction on exposure in education and business environments. An unvaccinated person who gets a dose of vaccine within 3 days of infection is less likely to develop the illness.

Broward county is offering the vaccine at the school since the outbreak began.

Last year a record number of parents filed for exemptions from school vaccine requirements on religious or philosophical grounds across the United States. The CDC reported that childhood immunization rates hit a 10-year low.

The surgeon general also wanted all covid vaccines to stop, despite rising infection rates. The CDC has called the advice against Covid booster shots "dangerous."

Scott Rivkees, Florida's former surgeon general and now a professor at Brown University, said "It's about protecting fellow classmates, teachers, and members of the community against measles, which is a very serious and very transmissible illness."