EARLIER OFFENDER: The measles virus infected 21 students at Williamsburg’s
Yeshiva Kehilath Yakov after its educators permitted an unvaccinated,
pre-symptomatic kid infected with the virus to attend class. City
health offi cials on March 14 announced inspectors discovered that leaders
of fi ve other neighborhood yeshivas allowed non-vaccinated youngsters
in their classrooms amid a growing outbreak of the disease.
File photo by Colin Mixson
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BY COLIN MIXSON
Department of Health offi cials
on March 14 announced that
leaders of fi ve Williamsburg yeshivas
violated an emergency
order prohibiting non-vaccinated
students from attending
school amid a growing outbreak
of the measles, which already
infected at least 21 youngsters
at a sixth yeshiva after educators
let a sick kid in class.
The city’s chief physician
reiterated the importance of
inoculating children against
the potentially fatal illness,
warning that the disease will
continue to claim new victims
while Kings County youngsters
remain unvaccinated.
“As the city’s doctor, and
a pediatrician, I am very concerned
that children without
the measles vaccination are
at unnecessary risk for serious,
and potentially fatal
symptoms related to measles,”
said Health Commissioner Dr.
Oxiris Barbot. “The outbreak
is not over, and we will continue
to see additional cases as
long as unvaccinated students
are not properly excluded from
attending school.”
The fi ve new offending yeshivas
include:
• Bnos Square of Williamsburg
at 382 Willoughby Ave.
between Bedford Avenue and
Spencer Street.
• Bnos Chayil at 712 Wythe
Ave. between Keap and Hooper
streets.
• Bnos Chayil at 345 Hewes
St. between S. Fifth Street and
Broadway.
• Tuferes Bnos at 585 Marcy
Ave. between Myrtle and Vernon
avenues.
• Sieche Kinder at 808 Myrtle
Ave. between Marcy and
Nostrand avenues.
And in addition to fi nding
unvaccinated students,
city health inspectors found
kids infected with measles in
classrooms at three of the fi ve.
Health Department offi cials
slapped all of the schools with
a commissioner’s order, which
could lead to fi nes if the yeshivas’
staff do not follow the socalled
“exclusion order” issued
in December to stem the
spread of the disease.
It is currently too early to
tell whether the schools’ indiscretions
led to any additional
measles cases, according to
Health Department spokesman
Michael Lanza, who said
the audits that uncovered the
violations occurred last week.
The recent announcement
came weeks after city health
offi cials revealed that educators
at Williamsburg’s Yeshiva
Kehilath Yakov on Wilson
Street allowed a mini
outbreak to plague the school,
by permitting an unvaccinated,
pre-symptomatic student
infected with the virus to
attend class.
The borough-wide measles
outbreak — which offi cials
traced to a Brooklyn resident
who contracted the virus in
October while visiting Israel,
where the illness infected
more than 1,000 people — has
spread to some 157 local victims,
including 137 children,
all of whom are members of
the Orthodox Jewish community,
according to Lanza.
The highly contagious
airborne pathogen produces
symptoms including fever,
cough, and a runny nose, and
can cause diarrhea, ear infection,
pneumonia, encephalitis,
and death — with about one of
every 1,367 kids infected dying
due to fatal complications
from measles.
Symptoms can appear anytime
from seven to 21 days following
exposure, according to
the Health Department.
Viral violation
More yeshivas defy city orders, allow unvaccinated
students in class amid growing measles outbreak