Posted on: Thursday, June 21, 2001
Measles quarantine lifted on Kaua'i
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The state Department of Health has ended a quarantine for North Shore youths exposed to a boy with measles, and the island appears to have avoided a major measles outbreak.
District Health Officer Dr. Ron Metler said no new measles cases appeared.
"It was a big surprise. The surprise is because there were unimmunized kids in his school," Metler said.
A 16-year-old boy contracted measles while on a trip to Europe with his family in May. His symptoms appeared May 30 after he had returned to school. Because of the severity of the symptoms, the boy was hospitalized June 4.
The Health Department ordered a home quarantine for 25 schoolmates it identified as potentially having been exposed to the boy, and who were not fully immunized .
"This is a wake-up call for parents who put their kids at risk by not getting them immunized," Metler said. He said measles is a serious threat to the unimmunized.
The standard immunization procedure for measles includes a shot that covers measles, mumps and rubella. For full immunization, two shots should be given at least four weeks apart, Metler said.
The Health Department provided free immunizations at a North Shore clinic earlier this month. For children who received shots and had not previously received the vaccine, the department recommends a visit to a family doctor for a second shot.
Measles is a rare disease today because of widespread immunization. More than 90 percent of toddlers in the Islands receive at least one shot. Schools are required to check immunization records, but parents can allow their children to attend school without showing proof of vaccination by claiming religious or philosophical prohibitions against taking the shots.
Initial signs of measles can include flu-like symptoms, followed by rash. One of the most dangerous symptoms, and one that can cause death, is inflammation of the brain.
The disease was one of the major ailments that killed off much of the native Hawaiian population in the 1800s.
Most cases in Hawai'i today originate with someone who had traveled abroad in countries where immunization is not as thorough as here. Often, one new case generates many others.
