April 1, 2019
A message from Executive Medical Director of Ambulatory Services Dr. Todd Wampler:
There is increasing concern about the recent news reports about outbreaks of measles in Washington, and Mumps here in Montana. Certainly, the re-emergence of these vaccine preventable illnesses troubles all of us. Recently, we have received many phone calls from concerned patients and parents, wondering if they should update their own immunizations or accelerate the vaccine schedule for their children.
Our medical staff has been closely monitoring this situation in conjunction with Lewis and Clark Public Health and State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and we will continue to do so.
At this time, we do not recommend that adults seek out additional immunizations as long as they received their childhood immunizations (or were born before 1957), nor do we recommend children be on an accelerated vaccine schedule. These recent cases do highlight, however, how important it is to protect your children with the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine series starting at age one, along with all the other recommended childhood vaccines according to a standard schedule. That schedule can be found by clicking here.
If your child is not up-to-date on their vaccines, we recommend that you contact their primary care provider or pediatrician immediately. Lewis and Clark Public Health also offers walk-in immunization clinics Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 1930 Ninth Avenue in Helena. No appointment is needed.
If our area sees an outbreak of measles or mumps severe enough to change our recommendations, we will post an update here at SPHealth.org and on our Facebook page.
For more information about Measles, or what to do if you think you could have been exposed to measles, click here.