State officials quarantined 153 unvaccinated children who attend two Spartanburg, South Carolina, schools after they were exposed to measles.

The South Carolina Department of Public Health said the quarantined students attended the public charter Global Academy of South Carolina and the public Fairforest Elementary School.

The students will remain in quarantine for three weeks, officials said.

So far, there is one case of measles among students at Global Academy of South Carolina, a K-8 school, and three cases at Fairforest Elementary, according to The Post and Courier in Charleston.

Infected people can spread measles before they start exhibiting symptoms, and are contagious for four days before developing the measles rash and for four days after it starts.

The initial symptoms of measles prior to the onset of rash include fever, coughing, a runny nose and red eyes. Once it starts, the measles rash lasts for about five to six days.

The measles outbreak in South Carolina’s Upstate region began on Sept. 25, with eight cases associated with it so far and 11 measles cases in South Carolina this year.

All 11 measles patients were unvaccinated and did not have immunity from previous measles infections, health officials said. About 6% of Spartanburg County kids have a religious vaccine exemption, the highest rate in the state, according to The Post and Courier.

The eighth case in the ongoing outbreak was a child living in Greenville County, which borders Spartanburg County, said the South Carolina Department of Public Health.

South Carolina health officials are working to figure out whether the Greenville County patient interacted with anyone at the two Spartanburg schools, South Carolina state epidemiologist Linda Bell told the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

State health officials also urged residents to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Receiving two doses of the MMR vaccine is 97% effective at preventing someone from getting measles and one dose is 93% effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC also stressed that “there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Scientists in the United States and other countries have carefully studied the MMR vaccine. None has found a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.”

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.