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Health Deparment Starts Anti-Measles Campaign

Rock Island County Health Department

As measles cases continue to increase across the country, the Rock Island County Health Department is trying to make sure there's no outbreak here. It will open a weekly vaccination clinic this week, start a social media campaign, and remind school officials of the requirement that all students be vaccinated.

Health Department Chief Operating Officer, Janet Hill, says measles can be very serious and even kill young children.

"The important thing to note is that infants cannot get their first MMR, that's measles, mumps, and rubella, vaccination until age one. So it's up to the rest of us to get vaccinated so we can protect the people who cannot get it. "

So far, more than 1,000 cases of measles have been confirmed in 28 states, the most cases reported in the US in 25 years. There've been nine cases in Illinois so far, but none in Rock Island County.

With funding from the state, Hill says her department will open a walk-in vaccination clinic on Thursdays, starting this week ( 7/11 ), and through August. Appointments are also available.

She says Illinois requires all school children be vaccinated for measles - in public, private, and parochial schools. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.