UCLA Students, Staff Quarantined Following Potential Exposure To Measles Amid Ever-Worsening National Outbreak

The New York Times: Amid Measles Outbreak, Quarantine Is Ordered At U.C.L.A. And California State-Los Angeles
More than 200 university students and employees in Los Angeles were given quarantine orders on Wednesday and Thursday, just days after a measles outbreak was declared in Los Angeles County. U.C.L.A. and California State University, Los Angeles, have been working with county health officials to identify and contact students and employees who may have been exposed to measles this month. Those at risk of having contracted measles were given health officer orders — legal orders issued by county officials — to stay home and avoid contact with other people as much as possible. (Fortin, 4/25)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Measles Fears, More Than 200 Students And Staff At L.A. Universities Are Quarantined
The five people diagnosed with measles so far in L.A. County this year include a UCLA student and a Cal State L.A. student. Concerned about the quick spread of disease on busy college campuses, health officials have ordered that students and staff exposed to measles who cannot show they have been vaccinated be quarantined until further notice. The announcement comes on the same day California health officials said 38 people had been infected with measles so far this year in the state, an increase of 15 from the previous week. Measles has been spiking nationwide this year, with 695 cases in 22 states reported so far, the most in the U.S. since 2000. (Karlamangla, 4/25)

The Associated Press: Quarantines At 2 LA Universities Amid US Measles Outbreak
"One person with a confirmed measles case can expose thousands of people to measles," the county's public health department director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said at a news conference Thursday. Los Angeles County public health officials issued quarantines of 24 to 48 hours until proof of immunity is established, officials said. Some people may need to be quarantined for up to a week. (4/26)

The Washington Post: Measles Outbreak: Quarantine Issued At Two LA Universities Affecting Hundreds Of Students And Staff
The orders come amid a surge of measles outbreaks across the country — a reported 695 cases overall spanning 22 states — the highest number in a single year since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday. In a statement late Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the United States is seeing “a resurgence of measles, a disease that had once been effectively eliminated from our country. . . . Measles is not a harmless childhood illness, but a highly contagious, potentially life-threatening disease.” (Brice-Saddler, 4/25)

The Hill: Measles Quarantine Issued At Two L.A. Universities
UCLA is “awaiting medical records from 119 students and eight faculty members to determine whether they are immune to the measles,” and will quarantine those individuals. (Rodrigo, 4/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Measles Cases Jump To 38 In California Amid Largest National Outbreak In 20 Years
Measles cases spiked last week in California, with 15 new reports that brought the total number of cases for the year so far to 38 — nearly twice as many as the entire previous year — the state public health department announced Thursday. (Allday, 4/25)

In other news on the outbreak —

The New York Times: Over 20 Million Children A Year Miss Out On First Dose Of Measles Vaccine
Nearly 170 million children worldwide, including more than 2.5 million in the United States and half a million in Britain, missed out on the first dose of the measles vaccine during the past eight years, opening the door to global outbreaks of the disease, a Unicef report said on Thursday. “The ground for the global measles outbreaks we are witnessing today was laid years ago,” Henrietta Fore, the executive director of Unicef, the United Nations agency for children, said in a statement. “The measles virus will always find unvaccinated children,” she added. (Magra, 4/25)

Boston Globe: Mass. General Hospital Receives Record $200 Million Gift To Endow Vaccine-Research Center
Researchers affiliated with the Ragon Institute, a joint venture with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are now testing a potential HIV vaccine in South Africa. Since 2009, the center has expanded its goals to include developing vaccines for tuberculosis and influenza. The $200 million gift is among the first large donations in Mass. General’s $3 billion fund-raising campaign, which began more than a year ago and is believed to be the largest fund-raising effort by a single hospital in the United States. (Kowalczyk, 4/25)

Boston Globe: Q&A: Are You Protected Against Measles?
News about the measles has prompted questions about whether you or your children are at risk of contracting the virus. For answers, we turned to Dr. Larry Madoff, medical director of the Bureau of Infectious Diseases and Laboratory Sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (Kempe, 4/25)

Georgia Health News: Measles Strikes Again: Three New Cases Reported In Georgia
Three new cases of measles have been reported in metro Atlanta, state health officials said Thursday. ...Measles cases in the United States have surpassed the highest number on record since the disease was declared eliminated nationwide in 2000. Overall, there have been 695 measles cases across 22 states this year. (Miller, 4/26)

Texas Tribune: Texas Legislators Want More Vaccine Transparency Amid National Outbreaks
Senate Bill 329 from state Sen. Kel Seliger would allow parents to access more detailed information for each school. It would include information such as the exemption rates broken down by vaccine type, the number of students who have "conscientious exemptions" — vaccine exemptions for personal or religious beliefs — and the number of students who have medical exemptions signed by doctors. (Byrne and Cheng, 4/26)