The measles outbreak in Crown Heights is widening at this time, with at least four confirmed cases in the past two weeks. At this time it appears to be centered around students at Beis Chaya Mushka and their contacts. However, there is clearly a concern of a larger scale outbreak. Vaccination is the only effective way to stop this outbreak. One dose of MMR is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective.
Quarantine or restricting exposure of possibly infectious children to others is a vital practice in order to protect the public at large. Please be especially cautious to observe quarantine principles. Remember, measles is spread in the air and as such, being in the same room as an infectious person may result in the spread of measles. Measles may be infectious during the prodrome period, prior to rash, when the child appears to have a relatively minor illness. Please err on the side of caution. If there is any possibility that your child may be in the prodrome of measles, stay home!
The following are my recommendations, and they are in line with the NYC DOH and apply to those living in Crown Heights:
AT THIS TIME ALL INFANTS SIX MONTHS AND OLDER SHOULD RECEIVE THEIR FIRST DOSE OF MMR VACCINE (this would need to be repeated at one year of age).
Children who are at increased risk (such as those at Bais Chaya Mushka and their contacts), between the ages of 1 and 4, should receive a second dose of MMR at least 28 days after the first dose. A third dose at age 4 will not be required.
Individuals who have had two doses of vaccine are presumed to be immune. Individuals who do not know their vaccine status, or have no documentation of having received vaccination, should receive a dose of MMR. A blood test can be performed to check for immunity, averting the need for vaccine.
People born before 1957 are presumed immune, but those who are in regular contact with children, such as teachers, health care workers etc. should have a blood test and titers performed. People vaccinated in the 60s may have received an ineffective vaccine and should be vaccinated again or have titers checked. Those born after 1971 were given 1 dose of vaccine and in 1989 a second dose was introduced. Most will be immune if properly vaccinated – however, those working in health care settings and schools, or at high risk of exposure, may choose to get titers checked.
The Department of Health will make vaccines available free of charge for all those without insurance. Please contact your health care provider for further guidance. Hopefully, a vaccine clinic will be arranged by volunteer health care workers this week in the neighborhood where all can receive the vaccine. Details to follow.
Eli Rosen M.D.
Dr Rosen should give a lot of credit to BCM!! My child is in BCM and i am very impressed with how they proceeded as the first school to experience an exposure of measles. They are really enforcing the exclusion and doing their part(non-vaxxed kids are missing end of the year trips, graduations, alef beis parties, etc…. because no exeptions are being made) it really is up to the non-vaccinated families to help control the spread. When DOH tells you not to go in public places, it is for a reason. The school can not control what their parent body… Read more »
The school should have never let those unvaccinated kids come in the first place. Now that we have an outbreak they wake up. Or did they? Maybe the Health Department just forced them to not let the kids come back. Bottom line, is they should have stopped those kids from coming ages ago.
This article is fear mongering at its best. The ppl exposed and unvaccinated know to take caution at first symptoms. Those who are vaccinated assume they are safe and then wonder around exposing more ppl all the while thinking they are protected. If it was only non vax ppl getting measles, the article would say so. So clearly there are vaccinated ppl who are contagious. Last, if your really want to help, post where the places of exposure are. So far we know of bcm and that’s it. Also the protocol to dealing with measles symptoms. Have yet to see… Read more »
Uh they know to take caution at the first symptom however they are contagious before that first symptom appears so that don’t help much.
You’re not contagious before symptoms appear. You’re contagious before the *rash* appears, but there would already be red eyes, fever, cough. When you have no symptoms, you’re not yet contagious.
That incorrect comment above is indeed incorrect and misleading the public in an irresponsible way. At the start of the incubation period of a measles infection one is contagious 5 days before the rash begins. Characteristically many are asymptomatic. There are some that may display symptoms such as runny nose, cough, red eyes but these are also very nonspecific symptoms which can be mistakenly attributed to common cold, allergies or other viruses.
Dr Rosen writes that a person feels ill when contagious.
Healthy unvaccinated kids are not spreading measles. Ill people can be contagious, vaccinated or not.
“Read the article” this is not Gemara that you can deduce messages from unwritten words. It is so simple that being “healthy” will not protect you from measles that it does not need to be mentioned. Just like eating healthy with not save you from a car crash so too eating kale and raw ginger will not protect you, if unvaccinated, from the measles.
Start 4-7 days after the person is contagious. So taking caution once you are symptomatic means you have been out in public for a week before you even knew you were infected, spreading Measles.
What does that even mean? If your child is not up to date on her vaccinations she can not be in school. It’s that simple. Saying you can’t join the Alef Bais Party or end of year trip does nothing…
BCM implemented their exclusion even before they were mandated to. It was implemented before they were notified by DOH.
That’s not what this mom of unvaccinated kids said. The mom said she was able to have her kids in school until that first measles case. And then she received a letter from the Health Department saying they couldn’t come back to the school till the outbreak was over.
OP is saying that as soon as BCM knew abt the case they asked all uncvaccinated to not attend for 21 day. After that when DOH was in business later on or next day wtvr ,did they send official notices from DOH. By law the kids are allowed to be in school until there is an outbreak the that school
Yes, unvaccinated children were allowed to attend school so long as there is no outbreak. The school made its first robocall excluding non vaccinated children on june 5. On june 6 the exclusion was implemented by the DOH. The school was one step ahead of the DOH.
Chill out and take a deep breath. It’s not the black death. It’s not Ebola. It’s the measles. You all have bought in to the theatrics and fearmongering. We are better off getting our children healthy and go after the school for handing out so much candy, which predisposes our children to obesity and all sorts of other diseases which I know will kill a lot of them way too early. We are so afraid of the measles that we lost our way, and sold our souls to the avoda Zara of vaccinology. Daven. That’s your best medicine. Chizkiah hamelech… Read more »
Since measles kills one out of every thousand people who get it, I can understand why people don’t want the outbreak to spread. Especially in regards to community full of babies and pregnant women
Incorrect and dangerous logic that is being displayed by many. I’m not sure why people are so fixated on the the mortality rate (death rate) than they should be in regard to the attack rate (rate of spread and cause of illness) Why is it that some think diseases are only bad if they kill people? There is so much suffering, pain, lengthy hospitalizations and subsequent long term complications that occur that people should be concerned about. Especially as we are “Rachmanim bnei rachmanim”. On a side note the reason we aren’t seeing as much death from measles these days… Read more »
Thank you!
Did You get the measles?
I did it was NOT fun it was very scary!!
There were two night in particular were I couldn’t breathe well, it was scary!
The Dr. was not equipped to help me and I had to wait till the end of the day to even get tested for sure, it was not cool!!
So all you hypothetical people until you get it you should not talk!!
Its scary!
and you survived to tell the story B”H. Being sick is not fun. But neither is the horrors that can and do sometimes happen as a result of a vaccine. Google Shalva, Israel – and learn the facts behind how and why this wonderful organization started. It has to do with a faulty batch of vaccines – read the rest yourself….
“We all know that we have no right to touch a healthy person and inject them with even a small chane of sakana.”
The Rebbe doesn’t agree with you. You can find multiple letters here:https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2870103/jewish/What-Does-Jewish-Law-Say-About-Vaccination.htm and elsewhere which makes it clear.
In the winter of 1957 the Rebbe wrote a reply, pointing out that he was hurrying to do so because of the prime importance of the issue at hand: . . Regarding your question about inoculations against disease: I am surprised by your question, since so many individuals from the Land of Israel have asked me about this and I have answered them in the affirmative, since the overwhelming majority of individuals do so here [in the United States] successfully. Understandably, if there are inoculations that are produced by multiple pharmaceutical companies, you should use the ones whose product has… Read more »
Anyone can interpret the Rebbe’s letters to their favor. The Rebbe wrote to check if the lab producing the vaccine is honest – clearly they aren’t.
Do you know more than the Rebbe?
Read what he wrote about vaccines instead of saying that they are not allowed.
Believe in Hashem. He never created the body to be injected with poisons. Keep sugars/fats, liquor, lack of sleep due to unecessarily long “sedarim”, and other unhealthy habits out of our schools then worry about vaccinating or not.
It’s just measles for everyone else. Wait till YOUR child gets it, let’s see how you’ll react then. It CAN be fatal & has been during this current world-wide outbreak. An 18 month old died in Israel recently.
The adage goes; “better to be thought of as a fool, then to open one’s mouth and remove all doubts”. The child who passed away in Israel, allegedly from the measles, had a litany of severe, pre-existing medical issues and complications, was severely immunocompromised, came from a family who, unfortunately, was completely opposed to ANY medical intervention or treatment of any sort, and for whom EMS was only actually called, once the child was clinically dead. You can look up the case with all of the technical details in the Israeli ministry of health website. Remember, fear is one of… Read more »
There is something called Rubella, or German Measles, which people sometimes diagnose as the same illness. This is what is problematic to pregnant women, and it is not what is going around!
Correct, rubella causes birth defects. Measles causes miscarriage
It was the rebbe who wrote “I am sending this letter urgent so you should vaccinate”
So true, and so well written! Follow the money trail. There’s lots to be made by the pharmaceuticals, doctors, and clinics pushing this vaccine. I have a friend whose child WAS vaccinated and then contracted the illness anyway. The doctor told her it was a different strain. Hashem Yishmor – all of klal Yisrael. Put your belief in Him or in the vaccine – you chose.
So well said! I am a licensed nurse w/a BA in Medicine and have now learned Rebbe Nachman’s Torah and the Rebbe’s Torah for 15 years. The very concept of vaccination comes from people who believe in the theory of evolution (no G-d), and who bow down to the almighty dollar. It is not the Torah way to take medicine because there is a slight possibility that you MIGHT be exposed to someone who is sick. “There is no tribulation w/out transgression.” We all need to do Teshuva. Everyone should re-read parshat Chukas and parshat Ki Sisa w/commentary from Me’am… Read more »
One simple solution. Every single school and camp in CH should not let any unvaccinated child into any school or camp. Why wait till the DOH shuts them down? Private schools can be more strict than the state,Not less Such a huge chillul Hashem
FYI BCM has classes for babies from 6 weeks old and up. What age does MMR vaccine begin?
BCM has a daycare program from 6 weeks old and older so all those babies until 12 – 15 months shouldn’t be vaccinated by law!!
oh so what do you say? they shouldnt be vaccinated.. but they are in the school, unvaccinated. You gotta pick one, not both. How can u blame a baby who got it without reaching age of MMR? He cant catch it from nobody and not one person in the school exposed him. It was obvuiously vaccine shedding or contact with someone else.
The kids who got it, are too young to get the shot. I am a parent in the school and I see how strictly they are enforcing everything the health department has mandated. Even if all the schools were to allow unvaxxed children, thid would not apply to the baby classes.so by default, they will always have unvaccinated children.
I was born in 1978, only had one mmr as a child, had my titers checked and I was not immune. I got the second dose a couple of months ago, but one dose is not enough.
Hopefully all sick will keep quarantine…. each child with a rash makes me nervous….
Just to clarify to the person who commented on family who sued OT and ‘lost’.
Fact: They (OT) didn’t win the lawsuit!!!!! They agreed to review their religious exemption which is what they had to do under the law (prior to June 13th, 2019)….. They were reviewing their RE when this bill passed!!!
Times seemed simpler. U get the measles and your immune for life.
Let’s get back to the basics. The yetzer hara is tricky fella. And everyone is falling in to his trap. When u lose ahavat Yisrael u lose G-d
The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential. The experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study, and not random and unnecessary in nature. The experiment should be so designed and based on the results of animal experimentation and a knowledge of the natural history of the disease or other problem under study that the anticipated results will justify the performance of the experiment. The experiment should be so conducted as to avoid all unnecessary physical and mental suffering and injury. No experiment should… Read more »
Of course we should spread correct information and encourage people to vaccinate. But what is happening in our community is shameful. The sinas chinam that’s resulting from the vaccination controversy is out of hand. It’s shameful that schools make policies to exclude unvaccinated children. Let things be taken in context. There was several hundred measles cases in a city with millions of people not a polio or smallpox epidemic……
Home school? First to avoid truancy fines you have to submit a curriculum to nyc with regular reports. Secular subjects please. No Bnos chabad. No tzivos Hashem. No sidur parties. No graduation. Oh yes no camp. Your kids will blame you and resent you forever. Fighting the law? Might try but you will loose. Who looses? Your kids. Is this worth it?