1983 Measles Outbreak

[danielray]

Stumbled across this, and was curious if anyone had any memories of this ...?

Measles among Members of a Drum and Bugle Corps -- Arkansas, California, Kansas

Five cases of measles were reported among 150 members of a drum and bugle corps on summer performance tour of the United States. Rash onsets ranged from June 19, to July 17, 1983. Four cases were confirmed serologically.

The corps members were students from 16 states and England, who ranged in age from 14 to approximately 26 years. All were participating in local, regional, and national performance competitions with more than 100 other drum and bugle corps (with approximately 13,000 members) from the United States, Canada, and England.

The chain of transmission began with an international importation in a 17-year-old English citizen who arrived in the United States on June 17 and joined the drum and bugle corps in Hutchinson, Kansas. Although he gave a history of having received measles vaccine in England, no documentation was available. He had temporary lodging at the home of an American corps member in Kansas and had rash onset June 19. On June 22, he left Hutchinson with the corps as it began its 10,339-mile tour through 24 states (Figure 3). On June 30 and July 2, two additional cases occurred while the corps was in California; one of these patients was the American corps member with whom the English corps member had lodged. On July 17, two additional cases occurred while the corps was in Arkansas. The tour ended on August 19 in Miami, Florida, and the corps dispersed. No additional cases were reported among the other 100 drum and bugle corps.

When the first cases were reported, it was recognized that extensive transmission might occur among members of different corps throughout the country. To interrupt transmission, state immunization programs provided emergency immunization clinics at three competition sites: Arkadelphia, Arkansas, July 19; Cleburne, Texas, July 20; and Whitewater, Wisconsin, July 30 (Figure 3). Vaccine was offered to corps members at the competition as each corps completed its performance; these clinics lasted until 1-2 a.m. Approximately 1,000 corps members received either measles or combined measles-rubella (MR) vaccine, and over 500 additional members showed proof of immunity to measles.* In addition, 28 states established special surveillance for suspected measles cases at the sites of scheduled competitions.

[DrumCorpsFan27]

Stumbled across this, and was curious if anyone had any memories of this ...?

Measles among Members of a Drum and Bugle Corps -- Arkansas, California, Kansas

I remember taking the vaccination. I know I had been vaccinated when I was a child, but, who knew if this was a mutant strand or if some of the old vaccines wore off. Anyway, it was free and I took it when we were in Whitewater.

Edited April 4, 2007 by DrumCorpsFan27

[SkyRyder_FMM]

I definitely remember this. IIRC, all corps competing at Whitewater that year had to be vacinated before they could perform.

[Lucy65]

I remember too. It was full blown by Whitewater because if I remember correctly, it was announced over the PA to the audience.

[liebot]

Ouch. Imagine being "that guy" that started the epidemic.

[DrumCorpsFan27]

I definitely remember this. IIRC, all corps competing at Whitewater that year had to be vacinated before they could perform.

I don't think we had to be vaccinated. I think they had to offer it, but each individual had the option, if I remember correctly.

[Corkie]

We had a guard member get really sick on tour. She was taken to the ER in Arkansas, and that's how I remember the health officials finding out about the measles.

State health officials vaccinated the corps members & staffs after the Arkansas show... as a guard instructor for 83 Sky Ryders, I was one of them. Something about not allowing any corps to leave the show until everyone got the shot... ? I also remember getting lots of grief that night from the other staffs (especially from friends marching & teaching Pride of Cincinnatti).

I remember during retreat all the staff members going inside the school library to get their shots. We all came out showing off our boo boo bandaids to the kids on the field. I think the knowledge that they were next was worse on the kids than the actual shots. :P

[Jd83]

Yeah, I remember getting the measles vaccination before going on the field for prelims. That was fun.

[SBrancheau]

I had this happen in a marching band that I was teaching guard for. Only it was the chicken pox.

We were going to Florida between Christmas and New Years' and some kid talked their parents into letting them go while she was still contagious. Needless to say, she got flown home...

I don't think anyone got the chicken pox, but there was concern, especially among the guys in the band because chicken pox can, in rare cases, sterilize males.

Edited April 6, 2007 by SBrancheau