14 April 18 • 2019
jn

P

arents are breathing a sigh of 
relief in Ann Arbor.
On April 9, Washtenaw 
County reported one confirmed case 
of the measles, a child at the Early 
Childhood Center at the Jewish 
Community Center of Ann Arbor, 
one of the first centers in Washtenaw 
County to not allow unvaccinated 
children in with religious or philo-
sophical waivers. 
Peretz Hirshbein, director of child 
and family services at the JCC, told 
about a dozen families that their chil-
dren who were too young to be vacci-
nated would have to stay home for 21 
days for their own safety.
A few days later, on April 11, 
Hirshbein issued another email, 
informing parents that there was no 
measles outbreak after all.
“I just received a call from the 
county health department giving me 
the news that the child who tested 
positive for measles did NOT have 
measles,” Hirshbein wrote. “The virus 
sample was subjected to genotyping, 
and the genetic material was deter-
mined to be a match to that of the 
vaccine, NOT the wild virus. This 
means that the child had a vaccine 
reaction that resembled measles 
symptoms and did not in fact have 
measles.”
The MMR vaccine contains a weak-
ened live virus that cannot cause mea-
sles but can result in positive lab tests. 
Reactions to vaccines can sometimes 
resemble the disease itself, but cannot 
result in its transmission because the 
disease itself is not present.
What this means, Hirshbein wrote, 
“There was no measles exposure in 
the building, so none of our children 
need to be isolated. We look forward 
to seeing our babies back as soon as 
tomorrow.
“While this was a false alarm, I am 
grateful for the zealous protection 
of the public’
s health by our county 
health department,” he continued. 
“We completely understand the 
immediate response and need to act 
swiftly given the information available 
at the time. Had this been a true case 
of measles, waiting to act until geno-
typing could have been disastrous.”
 The Michigan Department of Health 

and Human Services (MDHHS) 
and the Washtenaw County Health 
Department on April 12 confirmed a 
case of measles in Ann Arbor related 
to international travel. This case is not 
part of the current Michigan outbreak, 
which stands at 39 for 2019. 
These previously identified sites are 
no longer considered exposure loca-
tions, according to MDHHS:
• 
 JCC of Ann Arbor
• Olive Garden, Ann Arbor
• Liberty Athletic Club, Ann Arbor
• Beaumont Royal Oak ER
• Green Garden Child Development 
 Center
For a list of Ann Arbor exposure 
sites, go to washtenaw.org.

OAKLAND COUNTY UPDATE
The Oakland County Health Division 
(OCHD) stated that it continues to 
work with schools and daycares to 
proactively identify unvaccinated or 
under-vaccinated students who are at 
greatest risk of contracting measles.
“By Michigan law, all students are 
required to be immunized with two 
doses of Measles, Mumps, Rubella 
(MMR) vaccine or have evidence 
of having contracted measles,
” said 
OCHD’
s Leigh-Anne Stafford. “School 
exclusion policies will be enforced as 
necessary to protect the public’
s health.
”
At Derby Middle School in 
Birmingham, a student has a confirmed 
case of the measles, according to a Free 
Press story, which also reported that 
Birmingham Public Schools adminis-
trators are following OCHD guidelines 
in requiring students who are not vac-
cinated and those who are under-vacci-
nated to stay home from school for 21 
days after the date of exposure to try to 
limit spread of the disease. ■

jews d
in 
the

Ann Arbor JCC

False Alarm for Measles 
Outbreak in Ann Arbor

Statewide cases reduced to 39.

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