Health Officials Urge Residents to Get Measles Vaccinations

As the country sees its largest outbreak of measles cases in 15 years, lawmakers are pushing to require vaccinations for children, unless their health is in danger.

Los Angeles County's interim health officer urged residents on Wednesday to ensure they are vaccinated for measles, and assured parents that vaccinating their children is safe.

The talk of measles has been putting parents, teachers and school administrators on edge.

More than 100 people have contracted measles nationwide this year, 99 of them in California and at least 25 in Los Angeles County, officials said. It's the largest outbreak the country has seen in 15 years, much of it traced to an outbreak at Disneyland.

State lawmakers are pushing to require vaccinations for children, unless their health is in danger.

A baby at Santa Monica High School's infant and toddler room had measles and officials have begun requiring that several parents show proof that both they and their toddlers are immune to measles.

Parents of 14 other infants were also told to keep their babies home for 21 days.

"So we have 14 babies that are going to be home," said Gail Pinsker, a spokeswoman for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. "They need to be home and out of the public, per the public health department."

Trena Summers, a parent, said she hopes those who are not vaccinated get vaccinated.

Officials are still worried about those who erroneously believe getting a vaccine is harmful.

"Unfortunately the myths about the association between vaccination and autism persists," Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser said. "It's very important for people to know that there have been many scientific studies since that have completely shown that there is no association between autism and vaccinations."

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