The Joplin City Health Department is offering measles vaccination at no cost to Missouri residents. This comes after notice that the state has had an increase in confirmed cases. The Department of Health and Senior Services Bureau of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention (DHSS) is recommending any person who has not been immunized and was born after 1957 to consider immunization.

Measles (also called rubeola, red measles, or hard measles) is a highly contagious virus and is a serious illness. Persons who remain unvaccinated put themselves and others in their community, particularly those who cannot be vaccinated, at risk for this disease and its complications. Currently, measles most often occurs in those who have never had measles or measles vaccine who are traveling into and out of the United States. Measles is transmitted person-to-person among close contacts when a person with measles coughs, sneezes, or breathes out tiny droplets with measles virus into the air and another person breathes them in. Transmission may also occur by handling or touching contaminated objects and then touching your eyes, nose, and/or mouth. Measles may be transmitted from four days before to four days after rash onset.

For more information about measles, or to schedule a vaccination, please contact Jan Clark at the Joplin City Health Department: (417) 623-6122.

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