State health officials are reporting a significant jump in measles mumps and rubella vaccination rates.
According to data from the Arizona State Immunization Information System, state clinics and doctor’s offices gave out 30 percent more MMR vaccines this January than they did at the same time last year.
Will Humble is the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services. He speculates the dramatic shift can be attributed to January’s measles outbreak.
"I think most likely most of them are families who have, you know, their kids have maybe fallen a little bit behind on the vaccine schedule, and when they heard about the measles outbreak they decided to get into their doctor’s office and go ahead and get their kids caught up," said Humble.
Arizona is second to California in the number of measles cases traced to visits to Disney parks last month.
