Head of School Luis Ottley sent an email to families on Sept. 20 announcing a measles case on the Randolph campus. The email urged families to monitor for any signs of measles and to check their student’s immunization records to ensure that they have received the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. The email also included a Zoom link to a measles information session with Dr. Lynne Ogawa, Medical Director for Ramsey County Public Health, which took place the next day.

The session drove home the message of rising measles cases in Minnesota. This year there are 17 cases reported so far, the most in five years, with 14 of those reported as cases brought into the U.S., the highest number of imported cases in over two decades according to Minnesota Department of Health statistics.

Measles is a severe respiratory disease with symptoms including high fever, cough, coryza, conjunctivitis, and Koplik spots. It is one of the most contagious diseases in existence, according to the Center for Disease Control, and up to 90% of those in contact with a person who has contracted measles will become infected with the disease if they are not immunized. For every 1,000 cases of measles, one to two will result in death.

Licensed School Nurse Carol Grady explained that, in terms of protocol, the measles case on campus was confirmed by the individual’s provider through bloodwork. The Minnesota Department of Health then completed contact tracing, and the health department at St. Paul Academy did not play much of a role in these processes.

Still, the health office hopes students, faculty and staff will take every mitigation possible: “If you haven’t had the vaccine—you’re at risk when there’s an outbreak,” Grady said.

In Minnesota, all students attending school are required to be vaccinated against measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, mumps, haemophilus influenzae type B and hepatitis B, unless they have an exemption. The flexibility of vaccine exemptions in schools varies greatly across the nation, and Minnesota’s policies are on the more lenient end of the spectrum.

The three categories for vaccine exemptions per Minnesota statue 121A.15 are medical exemptions, proof of adequate immunity, and a violation of conscientiously held beliefs.

On a national scale, Minnesota has been home to over 70% of all measles cases in 2022.

“When people start opting out of vaccinations, this is what occurs from a public health standpoint,” Grady said.

While measles has been considered eliminated from the United States since 2000 due to rigorous mitigation measures, it is a global problem. Many countries across the world still have serious measles outbreaks, and non-immunized individuals traveling between America and countries where measles is present introduce the risk of bringing measles back to America.

Grady explained how an increasingly international society complicates the mitigation of highly infectious diseases such as measles. An increase in international travelers, in conjunction with vaccine exemptions, poses a threat to the remission of the illness.

“Herd immunity occurs when a high percentage of the community is immune to a disease (through vaccination and or prior illness). We may still have herd immunity to some degree in this country but with the increase in international travel, that can disrupt the apple cart, since there are parts of the world where that might not be the case. Travel in and out of these regions has the potential to spread a disease in ways that was not possible in an earlier era,” Grady said.

The health office encourages students to continue monitoring for symptoms of measles and turn to MDH for resources.