Measles Outbreak 2015: By 2017, University of California Will Require Students to Receive Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccines

The University of California school system will require its 233,000 enrolled students to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, meningococcus, tetanus and whooping cough beginning in 2017.

As of now, the university only requires students to be vaccinated for hepatitis B.

According to a statement from the university, the requirements have been a plan for the school for more than a year. The plan is being implemented starting in 2017 because of the pressing multistate measles outbreak. The school also blames "the re-emergence of other vaccine-preventable diseases among those not completely immunized" as the catalyst for the school's decision.

"I'm really excited that there's support and momentum for this new immunization plan," said Dr. Gina Fleming, medical director for the UC Student Health Insurance Plan. "We know that these preventive measures are effective."

The initiative makes it mandatory all students show documentation of vaccination of hepatitis B, a TB screening and four more vaccines including measles, mumps and rubella; meningococcus, chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough.

The school will work to phase in the vaccination plan over a span of three years.

The first step will focus on building awareness for the upcoming requirement. The incoming fall of 2015 students will be notified of recommended vaccines and the process for making them mandatory.

Notifying students, Fleming said, is crucial for the plan to work.

The requirement would be a baseline for all UC schools but does not prevent other campuses from setting other immunization standards for all students.

The vaccination requirement as developed based on recommendations from the California Department of Public Health and in consultation with UC's student health center directors, vice chancellors for student affairs and the UC system senior vice president for health sciences and services.

The school's initiative will allow for exemptions based on medical or religious purposes.

"We need to be mindful of the population we're serving," Fleming said. "That's really a critical piece. ... We can't expect students to adhere to a requirement that they haven't heard about. They need to know what the plan is."

The Centers for Disease Control has determined 102 cases of measles this year. Many of them stemming from an outbreak at Disneyland in December of last year.