Officials Urge Early Back-to-School Vaccinations

School Resumes for Many in Just a Few Weeks

Health officials in Tarrant and Dallas Counties continue to watch for more measles cases.

A resident in northeast Tarrant County was confirmed to have the highly contagious disease earlier this week.
 
It's a diagnosis officials hope will get more people vaccinated.
 
Tarrant County Public Health's La Gran Plaza Immunization Clinic is seeing kids and their parents get their required shots.
 
The need for vaccinations is once again getting attention with that rare case of the measles popping up. The diagnosed person didn't not get the vaccine as a child.
 
So the message from public health officials is to check your records, adults and children alike, and get protected.
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says if one person has the measles, 90 percent of those people they're close to, who aren't immune, will get it, too.
 
"We'll probably get a few more cases. I do expect some, and then it'll die out," said Russell Jones, chief epidemiologist for Tarrant County.
 
While this isn't anticipated to be a big outbreak, it is a reminder that shot season is just around the corner as kids head back to school.
 
"Now is a good time when the rush is on not to go ahead and get those school required vaccinations," said Clint Bond, spokesman for Fort Worth Independent School District.
 
Without the shots, students can't enter the school doors one month from now, because they are required by state law. Fort Worth ISD informed parents at the end of last school year whether their child required shots before this coming year starts.
 
"We've told them we're running a campaign right now in the middle of the summer, and, of course, people will start to think of it as we get back closer to the start of school," Bond said.
 
Public health officials believe they do have this measles outbreak confined but say they never know if someone was missed. That's why they've alerted doctors to watch for rashes and urge for vaccinations.
 
Immunization clinics are already opening for back to school shots. While Fort Worth ISD doesn't offer any clinics, it does post them on its website.
 
Tarrant County Commissioner Roy Brooks is sponsoring a clinic on Saturday in Fort Worth.
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