Get Immunized, Idaho encourages MMR vaccine | News - Post Register

First mumps case recorded last week in Jackson

With the Jackson Hole News and Guide reporting that the first case of mumps was recorded in Wyoming in Jackson Hole in April, coupled with a national outbreak of measles, Get Immunized, Idaho is asking parents to protect children from the communicable disease through the MMR vaccine.

“We haven’t seen outbreaks like this in our lifetime and that is leaving many wondering what they need to do.” said Dr. Alicia Lachiondo, a pediatrician with Treasure Valley Pediatrics and the Get Immunized, Idaho spokesperson in a news release this week regarding the measles outbreak. “It is as easy as making sure your children are all up-to-date on their immunizations and then making sure parents have their boosters.”

Measles is a highly contagious disease that spreads through a cough or sneeze. With a record-breaking number of cases, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests the MMR vaccine to protect children and adults against measles, mumps and rubella.

More than 700 measles cases were reported this year, the greatest number since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000. Cases have been confirmed in 22 states, including three that border Idaho; Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

According to the CDC, so far this year, 41 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. reported mumps infections in more than 730 people. Before the U.S. mumps vaccination program started in 1967, about 186,000 cases were reported each year, but the actual number of cases was likely much higher due to underreporting. The mumps case in Jackson has been cleared after an informal quarantine of the traveler who was diagnosed in April.

Eastern Idaho Public Health Education Specialist and Public Information Officer Mimi Taylor told The Star May 6 there haven’t been any reported cases in Jefferson or Clark Counties, and that Idaho has yet to have a case throughout the state.

She explained that for now they are trying to encourage parents to be proactive in vaccinating their children before it spreads into Idaho.

To help this, Eastern Idaho Public Health has provided free vaccinations in West Jefferson last week, and plan to provide another opportunity in Rigby on May 20.

Since the two-MMR dose vaccination program was introduced in 1989, U.S. mumps cases decreased more than 99 percent. Every neighboring state around Idaho has recorded cases of the mumps this year reports the CDC.

According the News and Guide report, “There was no community exposure risk at the time of the diagnosis, officials from the Wyoming Department of Health, Teton County Health Department and the hospital determined. The two-week incubation period has passed. There are only a few hundred cases of mumps, a contagious viral disease, nationally every year. So far in 2019, 426 cases have been recorded.”

Registered nurse and immunization coordinator Tiffany Larsen with Eastern Idaho Public Health told the Teton Valley News this week that public health office has seen an increase in the public seeking the MMR vaccine this year.

“We think people are being proactive with the MMR knowing that we have boarding states reporting measles outbreaks,” she said.

According to the Idaho Division of Public Health, Teton School District averages an 82 percent immunization rate for students in Kindergarten through seventh grade for the 2018/2019 school year.

Teton Middle School boosts the highest rate with 91.3 percent of the students immunized in the 2018/2019 school year. Victor Elementary School has a 85.1 percent rate, with Driggs Elementary at 79.5 percent and Tetonia Elementary School at 74.4 percent.

According to the Jefferson Joint School District No. 251 Student Immunization Rates, 88.4 percent of district students have been vaccinated.

“These hundreds of outbreaks show that we can’t be defenseless when it comes to protecting our children and our families and we are facing a threat here in Idaho if we get one confirmed case. Vaccines keep people safe and stop threats. The more aware we are of the facts, but better we can get be prepared by getting vaccines on the recommended schedule,” said Dr. Lachiondo.

To ensure your family is protected the CDC encourages parents to follow this schedule:

· Children 12 to 15 months old should get their first dose.

· Children 4 to 6 years old should get their second dose.

· If a child has not been vaccinated on the recommended schedule, it is not too late. Parents should talk to their doctor immediately.

· Teens or adults who were never vaccinated should get at least one dose.

· Adults in high-risk situations (post-secondary students, healthcare personnel, and international travelers) who were never vaccinated should get two doses.

· Women of childbearing age should make sure they are vaccinated before they get pregnant.

· If you were born from 1957 to 1968, you are encouraged to be revaccinated.

Teton Valley News and The Jefferson Star

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