Official insights from Public Health – Seattle & King County staff
Update (5.6.19): Latest locations/times are listed in the table below in bold. Original post: A Canadian resident from British Columbia who traveled to the Seattle area in late April 2019 has been diagnosed with measles. The traveler, a man in his 40s, has since recovered from his illness. Prior to arriving in King County, he […]
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By Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer Recent cases of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) locally and across the US have parents, health care providers and public health professionals deeply concerned and looking hard for the cause, which remains unknown. Based on what we do know about causes of AFM, the leading suspect is infection with a […]
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When refugees escape from war, conflict, famine and other disasters, it’s not unusual for them to end up in King County. We are one of the nation’s major host communities for refugees. A well-organized local network of agencies helps refugees take the first steps into a new life. This network emerged in 1979, when an earlier […]
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By Jeff Duchin, MD, Health Officer Media coverage of our recent publication in the journal Pediatrics gave some people the mistaken impression that my colleagues and I want to provide children with a choice to “opt out” of required vaccinations, except for measles vaccine. The fact is that families in Washington currently have the ability […]
Read MoreUpdate: 5/22/17: New data are available that show the immunizations levels at schools across King County. According to Libby Page from our Communicable Disease and Immunization program, rates at most schools have stayed stable, with about 17,000 (5.2%) children across the county still not fully protected from vaccine-preventable diseases. Meanwhile, preventable disease outbreaks continue to […]
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