JCPS to hold vaccination clinics after CDC warns of measles risk

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools is scheduled to hold vaccination clinics where students can receive several vaccines, including the measles vaccine.

According to a statement from the school district, the CDC has informed Louisville health officials that the area may be at risk for a measles outbreak after a recent outbreak occurred in Ohio.

Columbus Public Health says the outbreak started in November. Since then, there's been 85 cases, all in kids under 18, 34 of them had to be hospitalized.

"We know from the Columbus outbreak that close to 40%, maybe above 40% of the children that have gotten measles have had to be hospitalized so we know this is very important," Eva Stone JCPS District Health manager said.

As a result, JCPS will host the first of several vaccination clinics on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 8 a.m. at Iroquois High School.

Students will have the opportunity to receive the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, the COVID vaccine and the flu vaccine.

The district is also pin-pointing schools with low measles vaccination rates for clinic locations. JCPS says nearly 12,000 students are not up to date on MMR vaccines.

"We work to prevent the spread of illness in our schools and vaccinations is a big portion of that," Stone said.

Norton Children's pediatric infectious disease physician, Dr. Kris Bryant, says symptoms most common for measles include rash and a fever. Other symptoms are cough, runny nose and red eyes.

"It's not on most parent's worry list. They've never seen a case of measles. We don't see measles much anymore. And that's because the vaccinations work so well," she said.

Dr. Bryant says Louisville hasn't seen a case in a while, but that can change. She said one in every five kids who get measles have to be hospitalized.

"The situation in Ohio is really a warning about what can happen when we have groups of unimmunized or under-immunized kids in a community," Dr. Bryant said.

The MMR vaccination is available for students with or without insurance. Students will need a guardian to fill out an authorization form.

Additional vaccination clinics will be held at Marion C. Moore School on Wednesday, Jan. 25; Newcomer Academy on Tuesday, Jan. 31; and Fern Creek High School on Tuesday, Feb. 7. All of the clinics will begin at 8 a.m.

If you're not sure about your child's immunization status, JCPS says you can call your school nurse or the district's health office at 502-485-3387.