Worried About Measles? Health Department Offers FREE July 18 Vaccination Clinic

kanecountyconnects / July 2, 2019 / Comments Off / Communities, Consumers, Education, Events, Government, Health, Kane County Health Department, Popular Culture, WK-Communities

Graphic courtesy of the CDC.

Worried about the measles in the wake of the national news stories and the May 20-24 exposure here in Kane County?

If so, the Kane County County Health Department is offering a solution and some peace of mind — at no cost.

The Health Department announced this week that it will hold a free vaccination clinic for MMR — Measles, Mumps and Rubella — from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at the Kane County Health Department, 1240 N. Highland Ave. in Aurora.

No appointment is necessary.

Concerns about measles have spiked this year. The Centers For Disease Control reports that, from Jan. 1 to June 27, 2019, there have been 1,095 individual cases of measles confirmed in 28 states.

This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1992 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000.

In Kane County, more than 300 people were exposed to the measles at six locations in late May, when it was discovered that a person with measles had visited several stores and health facilities in the Geneva and St. Charles area.

Back in February, the Illinois Department of Public Health warned residents of a measles exposure at Chicago Midway Airport and Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva.

Who should get an MMR vaccine?

All children should get two doses of MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age. Children can receive the second dose earlier as long as it is at least 28 days after the first dose.
Students at post-high school educational institutions who do not have evidence of immunity need two doses of MMR vaccine, separated by at least 28 days.
Adults who do not have evidence of immunity should get at least one dose of MMR vaccine.

Funding for the immunizations comes from a grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

For more information about immunizations, visit the Kane County Health Department website at KaneHealth.com/Pages/Immunizations.aspx

Click this link for more information from the CDC Measles Page.

SOURCE: Kane County Health Department news release