Clinics aim to combat measles in Hennepin County

You don't hear much about measles these days.

The virus also called rubeola has been mostly kept under tight rein in Minnesota by a fairly widely vaccinated population.

In Hennepin County, though, the vaccination rate is slipping. It's still pretty high at 85% of all two year olds, according to county public health officials, but they say it should be well above ninety percent in order to contain spread of the illness.

All of this comes to our attention by way of the Minnesota Health Department reporting nine cases of measles so far this month. That's more cases in one month than in the past five years combined.

All the infected are babes and kids - 4 months to four years of age. And five are from the Somali community where by some accounts there's a fairly high number of people not innoculated.

Parents cite all sorts or reasons for avoiding having their kids vaccinated, many with roots in less than scientific findings. There'll be another vaccination clinic for kids and adults this Sunday afternoon at Children's Hospital at 25th and Chicago avenue in Minneapolis.

Here's what the CDC says about measles.

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