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Clark County keeps 800 students out of school due to measles outbreak

Over 800 students have been asked to stay home for three weeks due to the ongoing measles outbreak, disrupting their education, health officals say.
Image: One-year-old Abel Zhang cries as he receives the last of three inoculations, including a vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), at the International Community Health Services
One-year-old Abel Zhang cries as he receives the last of three inoculations, including a vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), at the International Community Health Services on Feb. 13, 2019, in Seattle.Elaine Thompson / AP
By Associated Press

In the Washington county that is home to one of the nation’s largest measles outbreaks, the effects go far beyond the 71 confirmed cases.

The Seattle Times reports over 800 students considered exposed to the highly contagious disease in Clark County have been ordered to stay away from classrooms for up to three weeks, disrupting their education.

Since January, field trips, after-school activities and an assembly honoring Martin Luther King Jr. have been canceled or postponed. Some students are doing homework off prepared handouts; others are using school-issued laptops to keep up.

If one child in a school is diagnosed, all are considered exposed — and any student whose parents cannot prove their child was vaccinated is kept away.

More than a dozen Clark County schools — most in Vancouver — had students sit out of class after a directive from health officials.