Clark County Health Department Explains the Measles, Part 4
Thursday, February 19th, 2015 -- 11:37 AM
-The U.S. has seen an increase in Measles cases for 2015.Many of the cases are linked back to a theme park in California where officials believe someone exposed to the disease overseas recently vacationed to.
Laura Betthauser, with the Clark County Health Department, said that it's important for people to know what kind of vaccinations they've received.
She said, "Knowing which vaccines you have had is an important step towards protecting, not only your health, but the health of your family and friends because getting vaccines before you are exposed can prevent disease. For measles, if you do not have proof of your immunization status and, lets say, you are exposed to someone who was contagious with Measles, you could be confined to your home until we are sure you do not have Measles, which can be up to 21 days."
"If you do not have a record of your Measles vaccination, a good place to start is by calling your healthcare provider to see if they have a record of it. Or you can call your local health department as well to see if they have a record. If you cannot find a record of you vaccination you can always get an MMR vaccine. Your other option would be to get a blood test which would show whether or not if you have an immunity to Measles."
There's really only one good way to to help prevent getting the Measles and other illnesses.
"I guess that's a simply answer," said Laura. "The best way that we know to prevent Measles and other illnesses, like the flu, is to get vaccinated."
So far, two possible Measles cases were identified in Portage County, but one case tested has come back negative and the other case is still pending.
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