Gold Coast private school tells students stay home unless vaccinated after measles case

More than 2000 students at a Gold Coast private school have been told to stay home unless they can prove they are vaccinated. It comes after a student was diagnosed with measles.

A GOLD COAST private school has been thrown into turmoil after a student came down with measles.

About 2000 students at Kings Christian College at Reedy Creek have been told not to come to school unless they can prove they have been vaccinated against the highly contagious disease.

Parents are scrambling for vaccination records, with one saying there was ‘chaos’ at the college as the school nurse tried to sign off on each individual student.

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“Some of the classrooms only have one or two kids in them,” the parent said.

“A lot of parents are keeping their kids home. It’s chaos.”

A Gold Coast school student was taken to Robina Hospital after coming down with measles. Emergency vaccinations are on offer.

The drama has also hit Robina Hospital, where the student was taken on Sunday morning after becoming ill and later diagnosed with measles.

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Emergency vaccinations have been offered to people who were at the hospital at the time.

Dr Andre Wattiaux, from the Gold Coast Public Health Unit, confirmed the case, saying the student had been exposed to measles while on an overseas trip.

“What happens in these cases is that we try to establish who has had contact (with the infected person),” he said.

“Essentially, at this point, the entire school body is considered to have been in contact with the case.

“We’re working very closely with the school to contain the disease. Measles is highly contagious and we wouldn’t want this to spread through the school.”

Dr Wattiaux said the student was not believed to have been contagious when they were travelling home from their overseas trip.

Originally published as Gold Coast private school tells students stay home unless vaccinated after measles case