MIAMI – Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials confirmed Tuesday that there has been a reported measles case at one of the district’s high schools, News 6 partner WPLG-TV reported.
The case was reported at Miami Palmetto Senior High School, located at 7431 SW 120th St. in Pinecrest.
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Officials have not yet said whether the infected person is a student or staff member, however, according to flhealthcharts.gov, the patient is between the ages of 15 and 19.
A district spokesperson said parents and staff have been notified about the case.
Dr. Jyoti Somani is the assistant director for Infectious Control at Jackson Health Systems and she spoke to Local 10 News’ Christian De La Rosa about the South Florida case.
“Usually when you see one case, there are other cases,” she said, adding that she wasn’t surprised of the case in South Florida.
“We also of course have a lot of international travel,” said Somani.
This is the first reported case in Florida and adds to a growing list of cases now in at least 10 states, including Texas, which reported an outbreak of at least 146 cases of the vaccine-preventable disease and where one unvaccinated child has died.
“Some of the kids these days -- they’re either not getting vaccinated or they’re not getting their full vaccination, which makes more people vulnerable,” said Somani.
Somani says if your child is fully vaccinated with two doses, you should not worry.
If your child is not, “Now would be a good time to go ahead and get them vaccinated. If there’s been a direct exposure, you have three days to go ahead and get vaccinated and one dose will help either prevent the child from getting measles or it will decrease the severity.”
Last year, there was a smaller series of cases at another South Florida school. In February 2024, Broward County Public Schools reported about a half-dozen measles cases at Manatee Bay Elementary School in Weston.