An outbreak of measles has made its way to Florida. In South Florida, hundreds of children stayed home from school this week amid the outbreak.
At least six cases have been confirmed at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston, Fl, which is located west of Fort Lauderdale.
Dr. Jeffrey Goldhagen, a pediatrician in Jacksonville, is concerned Northeast Florida could be next. “This is a very, very serious situation that exists now in our state,” he said.
Dr. Goldhagen spent 13 years as the director of the Duval County Health Department, and he’s now a professor and the Chief of the Division of Community and Societal Pediatrics at UF.
“Some children die from measles. Other children will have significant neurological and developmental problems afterward,” he said.
There’s about a 1 in 1,000 chance of those outcomes. Cold-like symptoms and a rash are more common. The virus is spread through droplets in the air or on surfaces. It is extremely contagious- so contagious that the World Health Organization says 95% of a population must be vaccinated to achieve heard immunity.
“The vaccines are essentially 100% effective, they prevent measles,” Dr. Goldhagen said.
He said they are safe and have been used for decades. But in Florida, vaccination rates are down since the pandemic.
According to the Florida Department of Health, just 81% of two-year-olds were vaccinated against measles and other diseases like mumps, tetanus and polio in 2022 -- down significantly from 93% of 2-year-olds vaccinated in January 2020.
Dr. Goldhagen says a lot of kids missed vaccinations during the pandemic, and the trend continued.
“Subsequent to the pandemic, there has been an assault on public health. There’s been much in misinformation about vaccination, about problems with vaccination. And in our state, there’s been an explosion of religious exemptions,” Dr. Goldhagen said.
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In Jacksonville, several parents told News4JAX that they have chosen not to vaccinate their children.
“I guess just being as close to a natural living body as possible,” one parent told us. Another parent said, “I don’t do vaccinations just because I am a natural healer.”
Dr. Goldhagen feels this is a foolish gamble, and that outbreaks like the one in South Florida don’t need to happen.
“I’ve seen children with measles, with polio, with multiple vaccine preventable diseases. So to see people, children, die from these diseases, for lack of access to vaccines, and then see families here choose not to use vaccines, and make their children venerable to these diseases...is terribly concerning,” Dr. Goldhagen said.
Vaccinations for measles and other diseases are available at the Duval County’s Central Health Plaza. They accept everyone, whether you have private insurance, Medicaid or no insurance.