Spokane County residents and Gonzaga University students are being asked to check their measles vaccine statuses after three cases of measles were confirmed in Idaho and one case in Spokane was confirmed by the Washington State Department of Health. As of Tuesday, the Spokane Regional Health District said the Spokane case was “presumed.”
According to Mark Springer, communicable disease program manager for the Spokane Regional Health District, declining vaccination rates nationwide could be to blame for the uptick of the virus, which was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
“I know there are concerns across the country about the risks of vaccines,” Springer said. “Those issues have been debunked with a number of different scientific studies.”…