Countywide : Health Workers Fight the Spread of Measles

County public health workers inoculated more than 40 schoolchildren in Piru and Fillmore on Monday at the first two of 14 free clinics planned to prevent the spread of a statewide measles epidemic into Ventura County.

The drive got off to a slow start, immunizing only about one quarter of the targeted group of children--those attending or entering kindergarten or first grade--said Patricia Contini, Fillmore Unified School District health coordinator.

“There would have been a lot more kids if we had had more publicity,” Contini said. “Some people just don’t read the notes sent home with their children. And lots of people say ‘My kids are OK because they’ve already had their shots.’ ”

County health officials want all children in the targeted group to get shots now, even though they might have had the shots as infants.

Twelve more clinics are planned to inoculate the estimated 12,500 children in the 4 to 7 age range who are deemed at highest risk because of their contact with other children.

“Measles is not a benign disease,” Dr. Lawrence Dodds, Ventura County health officer, said Monday at a press conference called to announce the clinics. “It’s a communicable disease with very serious health impacts.”

Measles can cause symptoms ranging from general malaise to high fever and, in some cases, death. No children have died in Ventura County from the disease, but at least eight deaths of infants have been reported in Southern California so far this year.

There were six cases of measles in Ventura County last year and two confirmed in 1990. Another six reported rashes are being investigated.

Statewide, 3,048 cases were reported in 1989, and the 1990 total may surpass 9,000 cases, state health officials have said. About 60% of the cases have occurred in children.

The disease, which begins with a runny nose and fever before it turns into the telltale rash, is spread by contact with nasal or throat secretions. It is contagious up to about the third day of the rash, Dodds said.

He said it is no longer believed that the measles immunization shot which most children receive at the age of 15 months provides lifetime immunity. The current outbreak may also be attributed to a more virulent virus, he said. However, once a person has contracted the measles, immunity is lifelong.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, which monitors the spread of communicable disease and advises on their containment, is now recommending a second measles shot for all school-age children, for college and university-aged students born after 1957, and adult health care workers, Dodds said.

Those people should seek shots from private doctors because the Health Department must reserve its supply for the highest-risk group, young children, according to Dodds.

MEASLES IMMUNIZATION The Ventura County Public Health Department will provide free measles immunization at the following locations for children entering or attending kindergarten and first-grade classes: MOORPARK: 2:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Flory School, 240 Flory Ave.

OXNARD: 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. April 10, Juanita School, 224 N. Juanita Ave.; 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. April 21, McAuliffe School, 3300 W. Via Marina; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25, Oxnard Community Center, 800 Hobson Way

SANTA PAULA: 2 to 6 p.m. Friday, Barbara Webster School, 1150 Saticoy St.

THOUSAND OAKS: 2 to 6 p.m. April 9, Waverly School, 1025 Old Farm Road

OJAI: 2:30 to 6 p.m. April 17, School District Office, 414 E. Ojai Ave.

VENTURA: 2:30 to 6 p.m. April 18, Junipero Serra School, 8880 Halifax; 2:30 to 6 p.m. April 24, E. P. Foster School, 20 Pleasant Place

CAMARILLO: 2:30 to 6 p.m. April 23, Los Primeros School, 2222 Ventura Blvd.

SIMI VALLEY: 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. April 28, Simi Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road; 2:30 to 6 p.m. May 2, Park View School, 1500 Alexander St.