(KCPW News) The Salt Lake Valley Health Department has four confirmed cases and six suspected cases of measles in the county, keeping many Granite School District students who haven’t been vaccinated home from school. Granite Spokesman Ben Horsley says the first confirmed case came from Olympus High School. He says parents should be reassured that if their child has been given the MMR vaccine, there is no particular risk.
“We also send a message district wide alerting all parents of non-vaccinated children that this is in the community,” Horsley says, ” and so you may want to consider contacting your primary care physician or the Salt Lake Valley Health Department and seeing what you can do to alleviate the risk to your child.”
William Penn Elementary, Evergreen Junior High and Skyline High School have also been impacted. The district says on average, less than two or three percent of students haven’t been immunized.
Health Department Epidemiologist Eileen Risk says non-vaccinated people who are feeling under the weather should avoid contact with others.
“We’re asking them to stay basically self-quarantined four days prior to onset of rash and four days after rash has occurred, to not go to the grocery store, not go to social events.” She says. “That’s the only way we can keep this disease from spreading.”
Symptoms include fever and red, sore eyes, followed by a rash. Utah students aren’t required to be vaccinated, but must produce an exemption from the health department if they aren’t.
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