Measles Information for Schools

IDPH requests that each school participate in the following action items to help avoid the spread of measles infections in Illinois schools.

• Review the immunization records of your students.
  • Illinois requires one dose of MMR for day care students aged ≥12 months and pre-school aged students, and two doses of MMR vaccine for students in grades K through 12, unless they have other presumptive evidence of measles immunity, which includes laboratory evidence of immunity or laboratory confirmation of disease.
    • There may be some students who received a dose of MMR at 6-11 months of age. This is considered an extra dose and does not count toward the above MMR immunization requirement. These students must still complete the two-dose series starting at age 12 months.
    • Some students may have received their second dose of MMR before turning 4 years old. As long as the first dose was administered at or after 12 months of age and the second dose was given after a minimum of four weeks (28 days) from the first dose, this second dose should be considered valid for their school requirements.
    • Note that if MMRV was used, the minimum interval between doses of the MMRV vaccine is three months.
• Schools should maintain susceptibility lists by disease category, including the names of students and staff who are not fully vaccinated. In the setting of any exposure, those who are not protected (or non-immune to measles) would warrant post-exposure prophylaxis with vaccine within 72 hours of exposure, which is why having this information at baseline would be critical to minimizing further infections. This would also be necessary if students and staff need to be excluded from school during an outbreak. This includes students who are not fully vaccinated due to a religious exemption, medical exemption, McKinney-Vento exception, or are on an approved schedule or non-compliant with the measles vaccination.
• Follow up with students and staff who are not immune to measles. Here are suggested materials to share with families. Remind them of the school's exclusion procedure in case of exposure.
  • MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) VIS What You Need to Know (Current Translations)
  • Use family-friendly infographics to communicate with families about measles and MMR through the AAP Immunization Discussion Guides. Available in English, Korean, simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
  • CDC: Measles Isn’t Just a Little Rash Infographic
  • Measles Questions & Answers
• Review your school policies and the IDPH Administrative Code Part 690, Section 690.520 MEASLES, SUSPECT, PROBABLE OR CONFIRMED regarding excluding susceptible students and personnel. Remind families of students who are not fully vaccinated of the school’s outbreak control exclusion procedure.
• If you learn that any students in your school have measles, immediately contact the local health department (LHD). If unable to reach your LHD, call IDPH at 217-782-2016; after hours, call 217-782-2016 to ensure that control measures are implemented.
• Vaccines are available in Illinois through publicly funded programs: Vaccines for Children and Adult Immunization Programs. The Vaccine Locator Dashboard provides users with vaccine availability and directions to provider sites.

This dashboard offers a detailed look at vaccination coverage for measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases based on data your district reported to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for the 2023-2024 academic year. Refer to the Illinois School Vaccination Coverage Dashboard to review your school’s vaccination coverage rates specifically for measles. IDPH has also produced this video tutorial on how to navigate the dashboard.

Under the Student Health Examination and Immunization Code, IDPH requires students to be vaccinated to protect themselves, their classmates, and staff. Vaccination directly shields individuals and helps contain disease spread, especially for those who are ineligible for certain vaccines. To maintain community immunity, schools should aim for 96% coverage, with a minimum of 91% to achieve herd immunity.

The IDPH Measles Outbreak Simulator Dashboard is a data-driven tool designed to estimate the likelihood and potential size of a measles outbreak in Illinois schools. Using an epidemiological susceptible-exposed-infectious-removed (SEIR) model, the dashboard integrates Illinois school vaccination coverage, enrollment data, and key outbreak parameters, such as transmission rates and infection duration, to simulate outbreak scenarios. By leveraging vaccination data reported to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and user-defined model inputs, the simulator helps public health officials, educators, and policymakers assess measles risks and reinforce the importance of immunization in protecting school communities.

I-CARE, or Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange, is a web-based immunization record-sharing application that allows public and private health care professionals to share the immunization records of Illinois residents with other providers statewide.

The I-CARE enrollment website allows you to find tools and resources to complete the following:

• New organizations can complete site enrollments and designate a Portal Registration Authority (PRA).
• Current organizations can report site updates and PRA changes.
• Individuals can request I-CARE Access.

• Communicable Disease School Nurse Guidance
• I-CARE Enrollment
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | About Measles
• CDC | Measles Cases and Outbreaks
• CDC | Measles Vaccination
• CDC | Public Health Preparedness Checklist: Measles Clusters and Outbreaks
• Illinois Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics (ICAAP) | Immunizations Toolkit for School Leadership
• ICAAP | School Immunization Resources
• ICAAP | Preventing, Reporting, Responding, & Managing Measles in Schools, Childcare Centers and WIC Clinics, March 2024 Presentation Slides

• Illinois Administrative Code Part 665 Child and Student Health Examination and Immunization Code