Measles cases have been confirmed in two Chicago Public Schools students at two separate schools, comprising two of the city's 10 confirmed cases thus far, eight of which are linked to the Pilsen migrant shelter.
At least one of the infected students lives at the Pilsen shelter, with the cases being reported at Amour Elementary School in Bridgeport and Cooper Elementary Dual Language Academy in Pilsen.
"So as of right now we only have two students affected by measles at two schools. We’re working with the communities in those schools," CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said Thursday.
"What I want our families to know, unlike COVID, over 90 percent of our community is vaccinated against measles. It is very contagious, but I want to make sure parents know that if they see any symptoms with their children, a rash or high fevers make sure they’re taking their children to the doctor," Martinez said.
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NBC Chicago spoke with Dr. Alfredo Mena Lora, the Director of Infectious Diseases at Saint Anthony Hospital.
"The concern is really that this is a highly contagious disease," Dr. Lora said. "However it’s highly vaccine preventable, so the concern should be whether or not your child is up to date with their vaccine. If they are, it’s very effective and your child will be protected."
He said he's confident the city can get to a place where they can contain the outbreak, in part due to a high vaccine rate in Chicago and increased awareness about the illness.
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"I think vaccines are victims of their own success. We don’t see these conditions as frequently as before," he said. "So it’s very important for people to really recognize how dangerous these conditions can be if you’re not vaccinated.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets a target level of 95% for a school to achieve herd immunity, which is the percentage of students that need to be vaccinated in order to avoid wide transmission of a disease.
According to an NBC 5 and Telemundo Investiga tool, about 90% of Armour Elementary Students and 98% of Cooper Elementary Dual Language students were vaccinated against measles in the 2022-23 school year, prior to new arrivals coming.
You can search for 2022-23 vaccine rates at any Illinois school using this tool.
CPS requires the MMR vaccine for students unless parents provide a medical or religious waver, or if students are in a temporary living situation, such as a migrant shelter.
"There are some kids in rare exceptions that can't receive vaccines if they’re immunocompromised," Mena Lora said. "In those cases make sure your child, if exposed, can get a medication called immunoglobulin to protect them.”
Chicago health officials reported that they vaccinated 900 people at the Pilsen shelter this past week.
