QuickTake:

In some zip codes in Lane County, vaccination rates are as high as 97%. In others, the rates barely reach 80%.

Measles cases in the United States have hit the highest total in more than 30 years — during the height of summer travel season — and they continue to spread in some areas of the nation. 

Lane County’s greatest risk comes from unvaccinated travelers, public health experts and doctors say, putting young children at risk — especially in a county where vaccination rates fall short of the 95% needed for herd immunity for some age groups.

But rates are not uniform throughout the county. Some ZIP codes have vaccination rates as high as 97%, while other ZIP codes have vaccination rates as low as 80%. 

Here’s a map of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination rates by ZIP code in Lane County.

Public health officials such as Dr. Patrick Luedtke, Lane County’s senior public health officer, are concerned about possible outbreaks of measles in places where vaccination rates lag.

“The biggest concern is that a single case could become several, because it’s a very transmittable infection,” Luedtke said. “If you have a pocket of 10, 15 or 20 people who are not immune to it and a case comes in, you might end up with 10, 15, or 20 cases of measles.”

While there haven’t been any confirmed cases of measles in Lane County yet, according to Luedtke, there have already been a couple of close calls.

“Denver International Airport, they had somebody who had measles on an airplane,” Luedtke said. “Well, as it turns out, Oregon and Lane County had some people on that plane. Thankfully, the people we had were vaccinated, and they did not develop symptoms.”

Already, the state reported its first case of measles this year in an unvaccinated adult in the Portland area who had recently returned from international travel.

If an outbreak were to occur, it would likely be among those who are immunocompromised or those under the age of 6 who have not received their second vaccine dose yet, Luedtke said.

The age group with the lowest vaccination rates in Lane County, children ages 1 to 4, had a vaccination rate of only 92%.

New data from the authority’s public health division shows that in Lane County, a record 8.3% of kindergartners claimed nonmedical vaccine exemptions, meaning these students opted out of required vaccinations for cultural, political or religious reasons. 

Luedtke stands by the MMR vaccine as one of the best vaccines available. It has been widely tested and administered, and at one point, measles was considered eradicated from the U.S. No longer.

“Measles can be a nasty infection. Many people believe it’s just a fever and a rash. It can indeed be just a fever in a rash for some people,” Luedtke said. “But as we’ve seen so far this year already, we’ve had three measles deaths, it can cause severe disease in people who have a normal immune system. It’s a shame, because it’s a vaccine-preventable death.”