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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1989)
College students in Texas, Illinois contract measles By Roger Price Staff Reporter A UNL student who has con tracted measles is not alone, as col lege students in Texas and Illinois also arc breaking out with the viral disease. In Illinois, cases of the measles have been reported at six colleges and universities. In Texas, 12 schtxtls have reported outbreaks of measles with more than 250 cases diagnosed at one school. Because of the epidemic, univer sity and college officials in the two states have cancelled classes, quaran tined students and required vaccina tions. At Texas Tech University in Lub bock, Texas, 250 cases of measles were reported after a student brought the disease back to the campus after Christmas break, said Marcellc Laird, a nurse with the student health services. Laird said the epidemic lasted lor about six weeks and forced officials to cancel some organ i/.cd exercise classes at the student recreation cen ter and some ROTC activities. Student teachers from Texas Tech were not allowed to teach in the pub lic schools until they could prove they had been vaccinated, Laird said. Classes at Texas Tech went on as usual, she said. But teachers were asked not to allow anyone in their classrooms who was obviously ill, she said. Because large quantities of the vaccine were not immediately avail able for use at Texas Tech, the school was forced to vaccinate only those at high risk, Laird said. Those at high risk included stu dents in the same dormitory as an infected student and those who had never been vaccinated against measles, Laird said. According to Texas Health De partment officials, other schools in Texas reporting outbreaks of measles are the University of Texas at both Austin and Arlington, the University of Houston, Texas Wesleyan in Fort Worth and Trinity College in San Antonio. In Illinois, the hardest hit of these schools was Bradley University in Peoria, III., which reported 108 cases of measles. At tirauicy, tne ilisease outbreak began Marc h 10, and the Iasi case was reported April I, said Belly Hassel bacher, nursing care coordinator lor student health services at Bradley. Hasselbacher said a Bradley stu dent almost died from pneumonia as a complication of a severe case of measles. Hasselbacher said officials tried to vaccinate every Bradley stu dent who had not been vaccinated since 1980, but students were reluc tant to get the shots. Officials at Bradley threatened to withhold grades from anyone who was not vaccinated, Hasselbacher said. Most students originally thought the measles outbreak was just another Hu coming to campus, Hasselbacher said. ‘‘It was a rude awakening having to see almost 250 students a day when you’re used to only about 100,” she said. Students who contracted the dis ease and lived within three hours of the Bradley campus were sent home. An isolation ward was set up in one of the residence halls for those who lived farther away, Hasselbacher said. Chuck Jennings, the program co ordinator for the Illinois Department of Health, said a Bradley student who contracted the disease rode with a group of students from Trinity Col lege in Deerfield, 111., to a Campus Crusade for Christ convention in Daytona, Fla., over spring break. These students then brought the disease back to Trinity, where six cases have been reported thus far, Jennings said. ‘‘This student had the potential to transmit the disease to hundreds ol college students from across the country while he was in Daytona, Jennings said. Abortion debate scheduled for Wednesday on campus By Lisa Twiestmeyer Staff Reporter A prom inent leader of the right to-life movement and the attorney who won the Roe vs. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision will de bate Wednesday evening at the University of Nebraska-Lincotn. Phyllis Schlafly, a voice for the right-to-life movement and leader of the successful battle against the Equal Rights Amendment will debate Sarah Weddington, a Texas attorney who won the landmark decision legalizing abortion. me ueoaic, sponsored by the University Program Council, will begin at 8 p.m. in the Centennial Room of the Nebraska Union. UPC Talks and Topics Chair person Jennie Johnson said past debates between the two oppo nents have stirred up controversy. A debate three weeks ago at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas brought in more than 600 protest ers, she said, and two people had to be removed from the audience. All demonstrations at the UNL debate must be done outside the lecture hall, Johnson said. Anyone planning to protest on the Broyhill Fountain plaza must register with the Campus Activities and Pro grams Office. Demonstrations along R Street or on the sidewalks by the union do not have to be registered, she said. No signs, flyers, buttons or I— other propaganda will be allowed in the lecture hall, she said. “We want to provide people with the opportunity to voice their concerns,” Johnson said. “They can use their freedom of speech, but we need to respect them (Weddington and Schlafly) while they are speaking.” Johnson said the best lime for people to voipe their opinions will be during the question and answer period following the debate. UNL Security will be on hand as a precautionary measure, Johnson said. Both participants will be given five minutes for opening com ments, 10 minutes for rebuttal and five minutes for closing com ments. Anne Pettus, director of forensics at UNL, will serve as moderator. Johnson said Weddington will come to the debate directly from Washington, where she will be attending a hearing on the contro versial Missouri abortion law, Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services. The Supreme Court now is re viewing the law, and there is speculation that its decision will overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision. Admission is free with a UNL student ID, and $1 for non-stu dents. Free child care will be pro vided. Health official gi ves advice on suggested immunization SYMPTOMS from Page 1 in, he said. However, Seastrom said, there is no “magic cure’’ -- no antibiotic can cure measles. The best advice is to have everyone immunized, he said. Seastrom said that during an out break, it is recommended that anyone vaccinated between 12 and 14 months of age should be rc-immu nized, no matter how old the person is now. It also is recommended that anyone vaccinated before 1969 be rcvaccinatcd. Alter 1969, he said, physicians began to immunize with live measles vaccine, which provides much belter protection than the “kill vaccine” used before that lime. At least 90 percent of people vaccinated with live vaccine arc now protected against measles, he said. Before 1976, he said, physicians vaccinated infants for measles when they were one year old. In 1976, the recommended age was changed to 15 months because it was found that the immunization was more effective on inlants older than 1. There arc no severe adverse reac tions to the vaccine, he said, and it is not a painful vaccination. But some people may develop a non-conta gious rash as a reaction to the vac cine, he said. The rash develops one to two weeks after the vaccination and lasts for three to four days. Once someone has had measles, he said, the person cannot catch it again. Kcd measles is not as dangerous to pregnant women as German measles, Scastrom said, which causes con genital defects to the fetus. Red measles normally docs not affect the fetus, he said. Scastrom said that because measles is so contagious, the situ ation at UNL is cause for concern even though only one case has been reported. It is important for people who feel they arc becoming sick to stay home, he said. It may be the flu, he said, but no one should lake that chance. cseastrom saia mere arc currently 30 outbreaks of measles in 10 states. In the first 15 weeks of 1989, 2,560 cases were reported, compared to672 eases in the first 15 weeks of 1987. The Center for Disease Control also counts probable eases, or cases of sickness likely to result in measles. There are now 3,880 probable eases in the United States, he said. Fourteen people have died of measles this year, he said. Most of them were preschoolers, and the old est victim was 29, he said. Seastrom said there is “no rhyme or reason” for the increase in the number of measles cases. Houston has reported 1,470 cases of measles this year alone, he said, 50 percent of whom were preschoolers. If it wasn’t for Houston, he said, the number of eases from last year may have in creased, but that increase would not have been so dramatic. -1 Presenting Teamwork and ^ Technology on your Campus ' ®1988 PRESENTED BY GENERAL MOTORS & GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES IN ASSOCIATION WITH UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA UNIVERSITY PROGRAM COUNCIL DATE: APRIL 25 AND 26, 1989 PLACE: NEBRASKA UNION PLAZA time: 9:00 A.M. TO 3:00 P.M. General Motors and GMAC Financial Services are pleased to be associated with your campus “GM Auto Expo” See the best GM cars and trucks in the convenience of your own campus community, and ask about the wide variety of Financing plans available to college students through GMAC Financial Services, including the GMAC College Graduate Finance Plan. 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