Nassau pushes parents to vaccinate kids for measles

With spring break coming, Nassau lawmakers and medical leaders are pushing families to get their kids vaccinated for measles before they hit the road — especially those traveling overseas.

The alert, issued Thursday, comes after outbreaks in Brooklyn and Rockland County.

Though no Nassau residents have contracted measles since 2013, County Executive Laura Curran urged that all children be vaccinated. She also encouraged parents who have children who can't be vaccinated — either because they are too young or have compromised immune systems — to exercise caution.

Children should get two doses of the MMR vaccine — MMR stands for measles, mumps and rubella, also known as the German measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first dose is timed around 12 to 15 months of age and the second dose should come at from 4 to 6 years of age. 

"We are on alert especially with expected holiday travel in the next couple of weeks," Curran said at a news conference at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, the county's only public hospital that distributes free MMR vaccines. "The health and safety of our residents is always our top priority." 

Nassau has high vaccination rates for measles, including 98.9 percent in public schools and 97.3 percent in private schools, Curran said.

But officials said there are still a handful of schools across Nassau with vaccination rates below the 96 percent goal set by the state. The lower rates are in schools where parents have used the religious exemption to opt out of taking the vaccine, state figures show.

The schools include ones in Garden City, Old Westbury, Merrick and Long Beach.

"In these schools a single measles case could expose our kids to a full-scale outbreak," said State Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Levittown). "Parents have plenty of concerns when sending their children to school. Measles and other preventable diseases should not be one of them."

Thomas is co-sponsor of a bill to end nonmedical exceptions for childhood vaccinations. 

Read the full story in Newsday.