Florida refuses to bar unvaccinated students from school suffering an outbreak of measles
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s controversial surgeon general is drawing criticism for his handling of an elementary school’s measles outbreak, telling parents of unvaccinated children it is their choice whether their students attend class — a contravention of federal guidelines calling for their mandatory exclusion.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo, nationally known for his outspoken skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccine, sent a letter this week to parents at Manatee Bay Elementary School near Fort Lauderdale after six students contracted the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus. Such outbreaks are rare in the United States, though reported cases have spiked from 58 for all of 2023 to 35 already this year.
The letter notes when a school has a measles outbreak, it is “normally recommended” that unvaccinated students who haven’t previously had the disease be kept home for three weeks “because of the high likelihood” they will be infected.
But the letter then says the state won’t turn that recommendation into a mandate, at least for now. The Broward County school district said Friday that 33 of Manatee Bay’s 1,067 students don’t have at least one shot of the twodose measles vaccine. The vaccine also covers mumps and rubella and is highly effective against measles even after one dose. The school is in Weston, an upper-middle class suburb, with a median household annual income of more than $120,000.
“Due to the high immunity rate in the community, as well as the burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school, (the state health department) is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance,” Ladapo wrote. He was appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in September 2021.
His wording contradicts Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations, which tell school officials that unvaccinated children “must be excluded” for three weeks. States are not required to follow those recommendations, however.
Jodie Guest, an epidemiologist at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, said the CDC’s guidelines “are based on decades of iterative science” but false information about the measles vaccine’s dangers is spreading. The vaccine in extremely rare circumstances can cause seizures that are not permanent or life-threatening, the CDC says.
“We have a pandemic of science disinformation,” she said.
Ladapo’s office did not respond Friday to a phone call seeking a response to the criticism.
The school district says any decisions about the mandatory exclusion of unvaccinated students rests solely with the health department. Spokesperson John Sullivan would not say if the six ill children are unvaccinated, citing privacy concerns.