OhioHealth Medical Minute: Measles

With the recent first confirmed case of measles reported in Ohio since 2017, the national debate surrounding vaccinations and the threat of infectious diseases hits much closer to home.

Though it was eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, the Ohio Department of Health recently announced over 28 states, including neighboring states, have reported cases of measles. Since January alone, over 1,000 cases have been confirmed, the most reported nationwide since 1992.

In this latest OhioHealth Medical Minute, we talk to Dr. Ben Bring, a sports and family medicine physician based out of OhioHealth Dublin Methodist Hospital, about what to consider when gathering the information you need to know about vaccinations.

MT: “Hello once again, everyone, and thanks for joining us for another OhioHealth Medical Minute. My name is Marcus Thorpe, and I’m joined by OhioHealth physician Dr. Ben Bring, who’s going to talk a little bit about vaccines because there’s a lot that’s going on and a lot of information. Dr. Bring, thanks for joining us.

BB: “Thanks for having me.”

MT: “First confirmed case of measles in Ohio in Stark County. When you hear that, what goes through your mind as a family physician?”

BB: “Yeah, well, the first is that it’s awfully scary. I have an eight-month-old niece who hasn’t been vaccinated yet, so the first thing I think about doing is go out and get your kids vaccinated as soon as possible, especially if they are behind schedule. I think it’s one of the most important things you can do. There’s very few cases where you shouldn’t get your children immunized. If they have had previous allergic reactions to shots or things like that might be for consideration, but most of the time we’ll still recommend getting them immunized.”

MT: “So with that being the case and a lot of information and misinformation online, what advice would you give to somebody who’s trying to figure out what they need to know about vaccinations, especially with measles?”

BB: “I think the best place to start is with your family doctor or with your family provider. I think there’s a lot of bad information out there on the internet. We also reference the CDC or the Center for Disease Control. There’s a lot of really good information online through OhioHealth as well. I think just getting the proper information, getting good, evidence-based medicine is probably the best way to go.”

MT: “I know that you feel very strongly about vaccinations for families. Let’s talk about that. Why do you feel so strongly that folks need to get vaccinated?”

BB: “Yeah, I think as family doctors it’s our duty to educate patients and families as best we can. It’s very important for us to produce the evidence-based medicine and try to present non-biased information. Vaccines have been proven to save lives, so we’re big proponents of giving those out to our patients.”

MT: “Dr. Bring, great information. Thanks very much.”

BB: “Thanks for having me.”

MT: “And if you’d like more information on vaccinations, of course, you can go to ohiohealth.com or cdc.gov. I’m Marcus Thorpe. Thanks for joining us for this OhioHealth Medical Minute.”