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Measles reported in East Ramapo elementary school as outbreak spreads to a public school

Frank Esposito
Rockland/Westchester Journal News

A case of measles was reported at an East Ramapo elementary school on Friday. 

This marks the first report of measles at a public school during the Rockland County outbreak that began in October. 

"Yesterday, the Rockland County Department of Health notified the East Ramapo Central School District and administrators at Hempstead Elementary School of a confirmed case of measles within that school," John Lyon, communications director for County Executive Ed Day, told The Journal News/lohud Saturday by email.

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Hempstead Elementary School in the East Ramapo district

Students were sent home Friday with a letter warning that the measles outbreak had reached their school. The letter warned parents and guardians that a single case of measles was confirmed and told them to be on the lookout for measles symptoms.   

Lyon said the Health Department notified the school and asked for more information about vaccination efforts.

"RCDOH instructed the school, through a letter, to monitor the students for signs and symptoms of measles, and asked for a list of every student's immunization status," Lyon wrote. 

The school will not need to keep any students from going to school, Lyon said. 

"RCDOH was notified of the case after the 21-day incubation period had ended, so no students will need to be excluded at this time," Lyon wrote. "From previous records, it is known that Hempstead Elementary School has a very high rate of immunization." 

The Rockland outbreak reached 87 confirmed cases and seven suspected as of Friday, county officials said. Students at private schools were stricken in the early stages of the outbreak, with patients primarily in Spring Valley, New Square and Monsey. But shoppers at the Palisades Center mall and two places in Spring Valley may have been exposed over Thanksgiving weekend. 

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People enter the Refuah Health Center in Spring Valley on Oct. 18. Amid the largest outbreak of measles in Rockland County in the last 20 years, residents are being encouraged to check their vaccination status and get the measles vaccine in not already immune.

Measles is highly contagious and can stay in the air up to two hours after an infected person has left a room. A dangerous virus that is spread by nose or throat secretions, measles can cause pneumonia, brain damage, deafness or death. About one in four people who get measles will be hospitalized.

People are considered contagious from four days before to four days after a rash appears. Symptoms usually appear 10 to 12 days after exposure, but may appear as early as seven days and as late as 21 days after exposure.

The county's small geographic size means exposures can happen anywhere in Rockland, as people may shop, dine and run errands before they realize they are sick but after they are contagious.