Although a similar outbreak in our area is unlikely, Door County Medical Center Infection Prevention Nurse Rachael Jandrin hopes a recent measles outbreak in Texas will encourage you to get vaccinated for the contagious disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been 164 total cases of measles in the United States, over 80 percent of which are under the age of 19. Twenty percent of those cases have resulted in hospitalizations, including one death. The outbreak in Texas, which has impacted 159 individuals, is centered around a Mennonite community where the vaccination rate is about 50 percent. Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services data shows that measles (MMR) vaccination coverage among Door County children by two years old is about 85 percent, the fifth lowest since 2013. In Kewaunee County, that number dips to about 82 percent. Statewide, DHS estimates that 84.8 percent of kindergartners have received both doses of the MMR vaccine, which is ranked 48th in the Union.

Jandrin says the goal for a community is approximately 95 percent, which would help protect people who cannot be vaccinated. She believes there are several reasons why the vaccination rate has dipped in recent years, some of them stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jandrin adds that measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world, thanks in part to its ability to remain airborne for up to two hours and for one infected person to be able to affect nine out of ten unvaccinated people. Measles can cause pneumonia and encephalitis, and one in five can become hospitalized. She encourages families to stay up to date on their vaccines.