FORKS — Clallam County public officials have expanded opportunities for residents to be vaccinated.
No-cost vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella will be offered in Forks this week.
The MMR vaccine will be offered in Room 102 at Forks Elementary School, 301 S. Elderberry Ave., on Thursday and at the Bogachiel Clinic, 590 Bogachiel Way, on Friday.
Clinic hours at both locations will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Four cases of measles have been confirmed in Clallam County this month, the latest last Thursday.
“No additional cases have been reported since last week,” Jeanette Stehr-Green, interim public health officer for Clallam County, said Tuesday.
No cases have been confirmed in Jefferson County, said Lisa McKenzie, communicable disease program manager with the county public health department.
Neither county has any tests at the state lab now, said McKenzie and Iva Burks, Clallam County Health and Human Services director.
Two cases of measles have been confirmed in Grays Harbor County. Both pre-dated the Clallam County outbreak, Burks said.
Residents quarantined
As many as 20 Clallam County people are in quarantine because they were exposed without being immunized or not fully immunized, Burks said.
“If they don’t break out [in a rash], they will be out of quarantine,” she said.
None have been tested, either because they refused to have the test done or because their immune status is uncertain, she said, adding that the blood test will be positive for measles if the person has ever had the disease or been vaccinated.
PA, PT clinics
Immunization clinics continue in Port Angeles and Port Townsend.
In Port Angeles, the clinics are from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday at 111 Third St., Suite 1-A.
Call 360-417-2274 to make an appointment. Walk-ins will be served but could face a wait.
In Port Townsend, clinics are at the Jefferson County Public Health Clinic at 615 Sheridan St. and at the Jefferson Healthcare hospital’s walk-in clinic at 934 Sheridan St.
The county clinic offers the MMR vaccine on a walk-in basis from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Jefferson Healthcare’s clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Vaccinations must be scheduled by calling 360-379-8031.
The vaccine is free at both clinics. The hospital clinic charges an administrative fee billable to insurance.
No vaccination
None of the four diagnosed with measles in Clallam County this month had been vaccinated prior to exposure, Burks said.
The first case was a 52-year-old man who was hospitalized at Olympic Medical Center after he was diagnosed Feb. 1. He has since recovered.
The second confirmed case was a 5-year-old girl attending Olympic Christian School who was diagnosed Feb. 11. She had been exposed to the 52-year-old man, public health authorities said.
The third case was a 43-year-old man diagnosed Feb. 18. He had been a friend of the 52-year-old man.
The fourth case was a 14-year-old boy diagnosed Thursday. He is the brother of the 5-year-old girl who caught measles. He is home-schooled.
The two most recent cases were quarantined before they became infectious, so there was no public exposure to them, Burks said.
But there were public exposures from the first two cases.
Among those quarantined are several unvaccinated students at Olympic Christian School, 43 O’Brien Road in Port Angeles, and others who had had known contact with people with measles.
It’s unclear who exposed the county’s first case.
“With Clallam County as a gateway to cross-border travel, there’s continued potential” for exposure, Burks said.
“Vaccination is the best protection.”
Highly contagious
Measles is an airborne virus. Those susceptible to it can get it just by walking into a room where an infected person has been in the prior two hours.
Children should be vaccinated with two doses of the MMR vaccine, with the first dose between 12 and 15 months and the second at 4 to 6 years old.
Adults born after 1957 usually require one vaccination. Adults born before 1957 generally are thought to be immune.
For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/PDN-CDCmeasles.
