Measles outbreak causes quarantine of students and staff at two California universities

LOS ANGELES – Hundreds of students and staff from two Los Angeles universities were quarantined on campus or sent home Thursday, due to possible exposure to measles.

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Officials from the University of California at Los Angeles and California State University in Los Angeles collaborated with state officials to identify and contact students and staff likely to have been exposed to measles this month, reported the New York Times.

UCLA officials said Wednesday that there were 119 students and eight faculty members in quarantine, KTLA-TV reported.

Officials from Cal State, LA told KTLA that 71 students and 127 staff members had been quarantined after it was confirmed that a person with measles had visited a campus library, the April 11. t immediately known, reported KTLA.

Those quarantined must provide a vaccination card or have a blood test to prove their immunity.

In most cases, measles causes fever, runny nose, cough and rash all over the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles can cause rare but serious complications such as pneumonia and dangerous swelling of the brain.

On Wednesday, the number of confirmed measles cases in the United States is at its highest level – 695 – since the disease was declared eliminated from the country in 2000, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommends the vaccine to all people over one year old, with the exception of people with the disease while they were children.

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