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Measles is causing concern among Oregon health officials

Lane County Public Health
Rachel McDonald
/
KLCC
Lane County Public Health

Oregon has had roughly 25 cases of measles in the last few weeks.

According to health officials, the majority are in Marion, Clackamas and Multnomah Counties.

Lane County hasn't had a confirmed case of measles in yet this year, said Dr. Patrick Luedtke, the county's Senior Public Health Officer.

But he said it’s distressing to see so many cases in the state.

“Measles can be a nasty nasty infection,” he said. “It can go all over your body. Goes into your brain. Can cause encephalitis. I mean, it’s a terrible thing. So, having 25 cases is a wake up call to all of us.”

Luedtke said people might be surprised to know there are more than 200,000 deaths from measles annually.

But, he said vaccination rates have dropped since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. He added the measles vaccine is highly effective.

Whooping Cough is also raising concerns

Luedtke told KLCC that a whooping cough, or pertussis, outbreak in Lane County that started in March is not completely over. He says they had 5 more cases last week.

“It’s not circulating at the higher levels that it was circulating at in April and May, but it’s still out there,” said Luedtke. “If you have a chronic cough, two weeks, three weeks, not otherwise explained like you’re allergic to cats and you spend a lot of time with cats, perhaps go in and get tested because whooping cough is still out there.”

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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