Klamath County Public Heath Monitors Measles Outbreak

This photograph reveals the skin rash on a patient’s abdomen 3-days after the onset of a measles infection. The image was captured at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. (CDC/ Heinz F. Eichenwald, MD).

Public Health provides information about Washington measles outbreak

Klamath Falls, Ore. – Klamath County Public Health (KCPH) is closely monitoring the measles outbreak in Clark County, Wash., and officials urge local residents to check their immunization status.

“Immunizations protect communities,” said Jennifer Little, KCPH director. “We all count on our community members to be immunized to ensure outbreaks of severe illness do not occur.”

Little continued that the Washington measles outbreak continues to be newsworthy, because most people thought the risk of exposure was small. “It seems like the Clark County Public Health website provides new possible exposure sites every day. This unfortunate situation could have been avoided had children been vaccinated.”

While there have been instances of vaccine failure, the reality is vaccines protect people from disease by strengthening a body's immune response. A vaccine's antigens help a body make infection-fighting antibodies to fight disease invaders. If the actual disease germs ever attack the body, the antibodies will still be there to destroy them. Vaccines will make people immune to a disease without having to suffer through that disease.

Many vaccine-preventable diseases, such as smallpox, are no longer around so we have simply forgotten how horrible they are. But up until the 1960s, parents were terrorized by polio, a devastating disease that struck healthy children and still exists in many parts of the world.

Even diseases that may seem mild, like chickenpox or influenza, can be deadly for some. During the 2009-10 flu season, 1,316 people in Oregon were reported hospitalized for influenza; 67 died. And before the varicella vaccine, about 100 people in the U.S. died from chickenpox every year – about half of them children. Vaccines are far safer than disease.

Little encourages individuals who have traveled recently through the Portland and Vancouver areas to visit the Clark County website at clark.wa.gov/public-health/measles-investigation. She also said the best information about measles is available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at cdc.gov/measles/index.html.

“If people have questions, or concerns, I always encourage community members to contact their primary care provider or Public Health. We are able to provide some immunizations and informed guidance on vaccination. It is my sincere hope that our community stays safe and healthy.”

Press release provided from Klamath County Public Health.