Ohio health officials have distributed nearly 12-thousand doses of vaccines to try to stem recent outbreaks of measles and mumps in the state.
Officials say about half of those MMR vaccines have been administered. There have been 68 measles cases reported in six counties, mostly among unvaccinated individuals in the Amish community. Officials say it began with unvaccinated travelers who visited the Philippines, which has had a measles epidemic. Ohio counties reporting measles have received 11,200 of the doses. Officials say the mumps outbreak that started at Ohio State University in January has reached 342 cases, mostly in Franklin County. The state has sent out 640 doses to counties with mumps cases.
Meanwhile, Two Ohio lawmakers say they will introduce legislation requiring kids in day care to be vaccinated for preventable diseases like mumps and measles. State representatives Nickie Antonio, a Democrat from Lakewood, and Ryan Smith, a Bidwell Republican, say the bill they plan to present in the Ohio House today will ensure that more kids are immunized earlier.