Schools encourage staff to report vaccine status to avoid isolation if exposed to measles

Students and staff in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City schools who are exposed to measles and do not have proof of vaccination will be required to stay home 21 days after exposure.

Similar to during the COVID-19 pandemic, if there is a confirmed case of measles, school officials will work with their local public health agencies to contact trace — determining who came in contact with the infected person, so they can isolate or seek treatment if necessary.

Unlike during the COVID-19 pandemic, measles is a preventable illness with proper immunization, school officials said. The two dose vaccine is more than 97 percent effective at preventing measles.

About 2,000 students in the Cedar Rapids Community School District are not fully vaccinated or have not submitted vaccine records to the district, said Elizabeth Adams, health coordinator specialist for the district.

There are 294 students with religious exceptions — which allows them to opt out of mandatory vaccine requirements based on religious beliefs — and 36 students with medical exceptions in the Cedar Rapids district.

The Iowa City Community School District still is working to compile lists to track students who have exemptions or are not fully vaccinated.

In Iowa, families are required to submit a copy of their student’s certificate of immunization, certificate of immunization exemption, or provisional certificate of immunization — which means they may have received at least one dose of the vaccine — to the school.

If there is a known measles case in a school, all staff working in the building who are identified as having been exposed will be required to show proof of immunization before they can return to work.

Fully vaccinated staff who do not show symptoms do not have to isolate.

In the Cedar Rapids district, if isolation is required, staff must use paid time off or sick leave. If no leave remains, their time off will be unpaid.

Staff in the Cedar Rapids Community School District are being encouraged to submit proof of immunization before the start of school Aug. 26. Iowa law does not address vaccine requirements for staff working in K-12 schools and does not require K-12 school officials to maintain vaccination records for school staff.

District spokeswoman Heather Butterfield said the district has sent letters and emails to all families who do not have a vaccine status on file in an effort to get them compliant as soon as possible.

“Twenty-one days is a long time, and our goal is to make sure to keep our staff and students as safe and healthy as possible, and in the classroom” Butterfield said.

“We certainly don’t want to repeat COVID where we had to shut down our schools,” Butterfield said. “The key difference here is we know what measles is and we already have a vaccine available.”

Adams said it is “perfectly safe” to get revaccinated if someone is unsure of their vaccine status and cannot find their records. There also are tests that show whether someone is immune to measles, indicating they have been vaccinated.

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How to find your vaccine records

If your health care provider does not have a copy of your immunization records, check with the state health department where you attended kindergarten. Most provide copies on request.

For Iowa, use the Iowa Immunization Records Request Form, which can be found online at iris.iowa.gov/docs/record_request.pdf.

Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that is spread through the air when an infectious person coughs, sneezes, or breathes. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, red/watery eyes, runny nose, and a rash. It can kill people by also causing pneumonia and brain inflammation.

The average incubation period for measles from exposure to initial symptoms is about 10 to 12 days.

If you think you have been exposed to measles and have symptoms, call your medical provider or nearest emergency room ahead of time and tell them that you have been exposed to measles and have symptoms before arriving.

Measles cases confirmed in Iowa

There have been eight confirmed measles cases in Iowa this year. The first case was reported in May, and was the result of travel. Three of the cases were members of a household of a Johnson County child who tested positive for the virus in July after traveling.

Of the eight Iowa cases, five have been in unvaccinated people, while three of those infected were fully vaccinated.

The virus was eliminated in the United States in 2000 through vaccination, but occasional outbreaks happen when residents travel to other countries and become infected. This year's national outbreak is the worst since 2019.

Iowa has among the lowest rates of measles vaccination in the country, according to kindergarten vaccination data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 89 percent of kindergarten students in the 2023-2024 school year in Iowa were vaccinated.

The CDC recommends vaccination rates of at least 95 percent to prevent outbreaks. None of Iowa's neighboring states achieved that mark in that school year. Nebraska was closest at about 94 percent. Wisconsin was lowest at about 85 percent.

Childhood measles vaccination rates have waned since 2019, when the last significant outbreak occurred. That year, 1,274 infections were confirmed in the United States.

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