25-04-2025
Health experts urge Michiganders to vaccinate amid measles cases
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – are putting a call out to Michiganders, urging them to take action with nine confirmed measles cases now in Michigan.
The state is in the middle of its first measles outbreak since 2019. Experts define an outbreak as three or more new cases from one incident—which is what happened in Montcalm County. On Wednesday, Ingham County confirmed its .
'We're really here to sound the alarm because we are seeing some real consequences from declining childhood vaccination rates,' said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan.
As confirmed measles cases continue to increase in West Texas, New Mexico, and here in Michigan, experts are seeing a decrease in vaccinations.
'Vaccine-preventable diseases are a threat. Make no mistake about that,' said Veronica Valentine McNally, President of Franny Strong Foundation and Founder of the I Vaccinate Campaign.
As of March, Michigan health officials say only 79% of children ages 19 to 35 months had gotten the MMR vaccine that protects against measles. That's down from 85% in March 2020.
'In order to protect communities from outbreaks of measles, you need to have vaccine coverage of about 95%,' said Ryan Malosh, Director of the Division of Immunizations for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Ingham County's MMR vaccine rate is only about 83% as of the last quarterly report. Jackson County sits around the same level and Eaton County reports only 80%.
'Often when I'm talking about measles, I'm talking about it as being the most transmissible disease that we deal with in modern medicine,' said Dr. Bagdasarian.
If you visited the Frandor location for any reason on the evening of April 15, you're going to want to keep an eye out for measles symptoms. Officials initially had the exposure window from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m., but that has now been corrected to 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Other include Aldi in Okemos, the Okemos Farmer's Market, and the MSU Community Music School. In Lansing, officials are actively monitoring Toscana Restaurant, Tractor Supply on Grand River Avenue, and the UM Health-Sparrow Emergency Department as well.
RELATED: Possible measles case in Eaton Co., potential public exposure
'Measles can remain airborne in very, very fine particles…for about two hours,' said Dr. Bagdasarian.
Malosh warns that the illness is more contagious than many well-known sicknesses, such as the flu and COVID-19.
'If a case of measles is exposed to a group of folks that are completely unvaccinated, on average that one case will lead to about 12 to 18 additional cases. With the flu, that number is about 1 1/2 to 2 additional cases,' said Malosh.
For the latest measles updates and information, visit the .
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