TYLER, Texas — With the recent rise in measles cases, parents all over are worried about how it could affect their children.
“I don't think that people fully comprehend that their choice to not vaccinate doesn't just affect them," Linda Faircloth said. "It affects everybody in the community.”
In addition to Linda being a mother and a grandmother, she is also a nurse.
“If people make the choice to not vaccinate, that's completely fine," Faircloth said. "But I feel like they should have to spend maybe a day or so following a nurse around the ER, where you have to tell a parent that their child is not leaving the hospital because of something that was completely preventable had they been vaccinated.”
One of Linda’s daughters has an autoimmune disease that prevents her from getting some vaccines.
“If you're choosing not to vaccinate your child by choice and then she exposes my child who didn't have a choice to something that will kill her, to me it's just not fair,” Faircloth said.
Linda’s daughter Jazmin says she is scared to take her 5-month old son in public, due to the rise in measles cases.
“I'm afraid of taking him out just because he could catch it or something else more serious,” Jazmin said.
Director of immunization at Net Health, Sylvia Warren says Jazmin is not the only one concerned about the measles. Net Health had several calls from people checking to make sure they are protected from the illness.
“I mean if they're just real admit about it and they can't find where they've had the MMR vaccination, yeah we go ahead and vaccinate them,” Warren said.
If vaccinated, make sure that you or your child receive both doses of the vaccine in order to be completely vaccinated.