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 Huntington Beach High School, about 15 miles away from Disneyland in
Anaheim, California, said that the step had been taken at the
direction of the Orange County Health Care Agency following
confirmation of measles in a student there.
The high school, which serves nearly 3,000 students in the beachside
community, had last week sent a letter to parents warning that the
student was infected and urging them to contact a doctor if their
child developed symptoms.
School officials said that individuals believed to have been exposed
to the infected student had been contacted directly.
"However, measles spreads very easily by air and by direct contact,"
Matt Zahn, the agency's medical director, said in a letter dated
Jan. 14. "Simply being in the same room with someone who has measles
is sufficient to become infected."
The school did not specify in a written statement how many
unvaccinated students had been asked to stay home, but said classes
were continuing on a normal schedule.
California health officials earlier this month linked an outbreak of
measles to Disneyland, saying anyone who visited the amusement park
in Anaheim between Dec. 15 and 20 may have been exposed.
The total number of confirmed cases linked to the outbreak has risen
to 51 and three suspected cases are being investigated in San Diego
County.
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Measles typically begins with fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes,
followed by the appearance of a red rash that typically starts on
the face and spreads downward. The sometimes deadly viral disease
can spread very swiftly among unvaccinated children.
There is no specific treatment for measles and most people recover
within a few weeks. But in poor and malnourished children and people
with reduced immunity, measles can cause serious complications
including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhea, ear infection
and pneumonia.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Trott and Eric Walsh)
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