--- title: Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California description: Health department “strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles" canonical: https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-10T16:05:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:57.079Z article:section: Health og:title: Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California og:description: Health department “strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles" og:url: https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted331bac38e33c15/69877e68428a9e7fc9cc70de/measles2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Measles Outbreaks Spread In U.S. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California twitter:description: Health department “strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted331bac38e33c15/69877e68428a9e7fc9cc70de/measles2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California ## Video: CDC Urges Parents To Vaccinate Children Against Measles [Watch (HLS stream): CDC Urges Parents To Vaccinate Children Against Measles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JJyuqpll.m3u8) (0:19)  _Published 2015-01-31. CDC Urges Parents To Vaccinate Children Against Measles_  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Feb 10, 2015 4:05 PM UTC  A thin-section transmission electron micrograph (TEM) reveals the ultrastructural appearance of a single virus particle, or "virion", of measles virus. A thin-section transmission electron micrograph (TEM) reveals the ultrastructural appearance of a single virus particle, or "virion", of measles virus.CDC/Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Feb 10, 2015 4:05 PM UTC Parents who are fearful of vaccines should not intentionally expose their children to the measles, California health officials warned Monday, amid rumors of “measles parties” in local media. The California Department of Health said it “strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles. It unnecessarily places the exposed children at potentially grave risk and could contribute to further spread.” No known “measles parties” have been thrown to date, but the expression started cropping up in local media reports after a San Francisco radio station reported that a local mother had [offered](http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2015/02/06/health-officials-discourage-measles-parties/) to arrange a play date between sick and healthy children. Officials have [confirmed](http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR15-008.aspx) 59 cases of the measles across the state, 42 of which have spread through Disney theme parks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/"},"headline":"Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California","datePublished":"2015-02-10T16:05:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:57.079Z","description":"Health department “strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles\"","url":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/","keywords":["Infectious Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted331bac38e33c15/69877e68428a9e7fc9cc70de/measles2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted331bac38e33c15/69877e68428a9e7fc9cc70de/measles2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Measles Outbreaks Spread In U.S.","caption":"Measles Outbreaks Spread In U.S.","creditText":"CDC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/","name":"Rumored 'Measles Parties' Elicit a Warning in California"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"CDC Urges Parents To Vaccinate Children Against Measles","description":"CDC Urges Parents To Vaccinate Children Against Measles","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/JJyuqpll/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-31T18:39:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JJyuqpll.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/","duration":"PT19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3703002/measles-parties-california/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```