The Miami-Dade teenager has a confirmed case of measles, the first infection in Florida since the minor outbreak in South Florida in 2024.
The infection was reported in the Florida State Health Database for Infectious and Reportable Diseases in Florida.
A spokesman for Miami-Dade County Public Schools confirmed that students at Miami Palmetto High School are infected. The district notified the parents of other students at the school.
Officials with the Florida Department of Health did not repeatedly call or emails for comment. Health officials work to track people who students may have come into contact with, school officials said.
The incident comes as health officials in western Texas and eastern New Mexico are already trying to contain the outbreak of highly infectious diseases, with around 150 confirmed cases and deaths of school-age children.
The once common childhood disease, but the declaration of measles exclusion in the United States in 2000 is an achievement achieved through childhood vaccination programs considered a public health success story.
Infection usually results in acute disease and rashes of small, slightly raised patches of red. It can lead to high fevers and complications such as bronchitis and pneumonia.
George Rust, co-director of the Florida State University Center for Medicine and Public Health, said outbreaks have become more common in recent years across communities with pockets of unimmunized children and adults.
He emphasized that the disease is not a routine childhood illness.
“Measles is far from a regular illness. Children get really sick,” said Last. “They get a high fever. They cough. They feel bad for days. Many are hospitalized, some of which may die.”
Measles are highly contagious due to its spread throughout the air. Infected children in classrooms for children who have not been vaccinated will result in a 90% infection rate, Rust said.
“It’s been hanging in the air for over an hour since the child left the room,” he said.
The Texas outbreak has led to an increase in debate over the rise in vaccine skeptics following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Florida, the proportion of Florida kindergarten children vaccinated against pediatric illnesses fell from 94% in 2017 to 90% in 2023, according to state data.
Health and Human Services Director Robert Kennedy Jr. said in a recent Fox News Opinion column that the vaccine protects not only individuals but also communities. However, he said the decision to get vaccinated was “personal.”
The district is reporting an increase in the number of parents submitting religious exemptions for vaccines that schools have cut off. Statewide, more than 5% of children are exempt from vaccinations that require them, state data shows.
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In Pinellas County, 7% of students are vaccinated.
The more children who are exempt, the higher the risk of further occurrence, Rust said. When vaccine levels fall below 95%, it becomes much more difficult to prevent spreading of the disease.
“The idea that vaccinations are merely a risk-benefit decision is wrong,” he said. “I’m getting the vaccine to protect myself, not just to protect my neighbors. I’m protecting pregnant women and babies who are too small to get the vaccine.”
