With the start of the new school year around the corner — and a recent measles outbreak in three Oregon counties — health officials are urging parents and guardians to get their children vaccinated against the highly infectious virus before classes begin.
A total of 25 confirmed cases of measles were reported in Clackamas, Marion and Multnomah counties, all among unvaccinated individuals. Ten of the cases were 9 and younger; 10 cases are ages 10 to 19; and five cases are 20 and older.
Dr. Paul Cieslak, Oregon Health Authority medical director for communicable diseases and immunizations, said state and county epidemiologists have seen several waves of measles cases since mid-June, “so now about two months of sustained transmission of measles.” It’s the largest measles outbreak the state has seen since 2019, when Oregon experienced 28 cases that were linked to a much larger outbreak in Clark County, Washington.
“Before 2019, you have to go all the way back to the early 1990s to see case counts this high,” Cieslak said. “The reason is we maintained very high vaccination rates and very high population levels of immunity. Unfortunately, we’ve seen an erosion in the percentage of people who are getting vaccinated against measles.”