In response to the 200,000 who may have been exposed to the person with measles at the Super Bowl Village in Indianapolis last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics is reminding people "of how important it is to maintain high immunization rates against vaccine-preventable diseases."
"Measles spreads so easily that just being in the same room with an infected person can cause an un-immunized person to become infected," states Robert W. Block, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "You simply cannot predict when you or your child will come into contact with someone who has a vaccine-preventable disease. That's why it's so important to make sure your family is vaccinated. We hope that high immunization rates will protect those in the crowd at Indianapolis."
Children should be vaccinated against measles:
- at age 6 months if they will be traveling out of the country
- at age 12 months (routine age for first dose of the MMR vaccine)
- at age 4 to 6 years (routine age for second dose of the MMR vaccine) - or earlier if traveling out of the country
"The vaccine is very effective, which is why we don't see many cases of measles in the U.S. today," said Dr. Block. "But the virus is still out there, and people who are not immunized -- including infants who are too young to be immunized -- are at risk. Measles can be deadly. High rates of immunization in the community help to slow the transmission of diseases like measles, protecting everyone."
There were over 220 cases of measles in the United States last year - the most in 15 years. Let's not see any more records in 2012. Get your kids vaccinated against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
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