Milwaukee measles case spurs vaccine push

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Following this week's measles case, the health department identified four locations where potential spread occurred along with dates and times. 

On Saturday, Oct 14, folks who may have been exposed in those locations were invited to a free drive through vaccine clinic. 

For anyone else concerned, the health commissioner says you have options, too. 

"For individuals that were potentially nervous about this and want to check their status, you can go to the Wisconsin immunization registry and look their status up," said Mike Totoraitis from the City of Milwaukee Health Department. 

Officials say they aren't concerned about community spread right now but still urge folks to check their status in the vaccination registry for next steps. 

"If you don't find your records there don't panic. You can talk to your primary care provider or local health dept. to figure out where your records might be. If you don't have any record of vaccination and you'd like to get vaccinated because you want to protect yourself for the future. you can reach out to your primary care provider," said Totoraitis. 

Symptoms of measles are similar to a cold, along with skin rash that typically shows up a week or two after infection. While there is only one confirmed case of measles, health officials continue to stress the overall importance of vaccinations. 

"We're starting our respiratory season so that means we're concerned about things like flu and RSV and COVID and certainly you can get MMR and all your other shots at the same time," said Totoraitis.