10
BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 17, 2019
Virus claims
new victims
Measels infects 21 at W’burg yeshiva
after educators allow sick kid in class
BY COLIN MIXSON
Educators at a Williamsburg yeshiva
allowed a virulent measles
outbreak to infect 21 new victims
by letting an unvaccinated child
attend class there, according to the
city’s chief physician, who urged
parents to inoculate their kids
against the potentially fatal illness.
“As a pediatrician, I can’t stress
enough how critical it is to vaccinate
children against measles,”
said Department of Health Commissioner
Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “Measles
is a serious, highly contagious,
and potentially deadly infection.
Complications and fatalities are
rare but do happen.”
Leaders of Wilson Street’s Yeshiva
Kehilath Yakov permitted
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the unvaccinated youngster
to mingle with his mates, even
though the school is subject to an
emergency-health measure that
mandates schools within certain
parts of Williamsburg and Borough
Park — where the measles
virus infected 121 people since
October — prohibit kids who have
not received the required number
of doses of the MMR vaccine from
attending classes, according to
Health Department reps.
The unvaccinated pupil did not
display symptoms at the time, but
already contracted the virus, and
the highly contagious airborne
pathogen soon swept through the
school.
Health Department spokesman
Michael Lanza could not immediately
OUT SICK: The measels virus spread to 21 new victims after educators at Williamsburg’s Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov allowed a
pre-symptomatic student infected with the virus to attend class. Photo by Colin Mixson
say when the outbreak at Kehilath
Yakov began, and added that
agency offi cials have yet to issue any
violations or penalties in the wake of
the new infections. But Barbot issued
a signed “commissioner’s order” reinforcing
the emergency mandate
to yeshiva leaders, who may be penalized
if they further violate the demand,
according to Lanza.
Health Department sleuths
tracked the wider outbreak of the
disease in Brooklyn to an initial
case a Kings Countian contracted
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during an October visit to Israel,
where another outbreak of the virus
is in full swing. In the fi ve boroughs,
the illness has only spread
among members of the Orthodox
Jewish community, with all but one
case originating in Kings County,
according to agency spokeswoman
Stephanie Buhle.
And news of the 21 additional
measles cases prompted Orthodox
Councilmen Kalman Yeger (D–Borough
Park) and Chaim Deutsch (D–
Sheepshead Bay) to join city health
offi cials and other experts in their
calls for vaccination, with Yeger
stressing the importance of immunization
to members of his community.
“It is imperative that parents
immediately vaccinate their children,”
he said. “It is just as imperative
that our parents and yeshivas
take all the necessary precautions
to keep unvaccinated children
away from harm.”
Kehilath Yakov staffers declined
to comment.
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