According to the School Vaccination Dashboard maintained by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Lake County is among the 13 counties where measles vaccination rates at schools are below the threshold for herd immunity.
Herd immunity for a given virus is achieved when 96% of the population or more is immune either through vaccination or developing anti-bodies by exposure. The overall rate in Lake County schools stands at 95.1% which is low enough for an outbreak. Pockets within Lake County are even lower.
Zion Elementary District 6 has a particular elementary school which sits at 41% This represents a drop of 55 points from just 2 years ago. The district is at 72% overall, which is the lowest in Lake County and makes a measles outbreak of possible.
Dr. Jhaveri Ravi, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine said in a report, “It’s probably one of the most contagious agents we deal with. Measles tends to find those who are vulnerable.”
“Vaccination is the best tool we have to prevent the spread of measles. This is a good reminder to make sure that you are up to date on all your vaccines,” said Dr. Sana Ahmed, the Lake County Health Department’s Medical Epidemiologist. “If you don’t know if you have been vaccinated, ask your healthcare provider to find out if you need an MMR vaccine. If your child is 1 year old or older and has never received the MMR vaccine, contact your child’s pediatric provider to discuss how your child can get caught up with their vaccines.”