March 6 Northwest Now: Local health professionals discuss measles and vaccinations
Posted: March 04, 2015
Nearly every day across America, new cases of measles are reported. And, the debate over immunizations for measles continues to heat up as young parents still choose to opt out of providing the vaccine to their children.
In Friday’s edition of Northwest Now, guests Dr. Timothy Panzer, Group Health Tacoma Medical Center, Dr. Kathy Lofy, Department of Health, and Nigel Turner, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s communicable disease division director will discuss this dangerous disease, and how immunizations affect our community.
Several areas of Washington state are of concern. Clark County, for instance, has one of the highest vaccination opt-out rates in the state. Across the state, the opt-out rate is six percent, compared to the two-percent average rate nationwide.
“For people who don’t have immunity and are exposed to the virus, there’s an attack rate of 75 percent, so it’s a very highly-contagious disease, compared with several other diseases,” said panelist Dr. Timothy Panzer.
Northwest Now is a weekly public affairs program that you can watch Fridays at 7:30 p.m. on KBTC. Below is a list that shows where you can find us on TV.
You can also watch past episodes and learn more about our show by going to our website. https://www.kbtc.org/?id=369
OFF AIR:
KBTC 28.1, 28.2, 28.3 digital channels (including K41KT-D Grays River-Lebam and K24IC-D, Bellingham and Channel 16 Digital, Seattle) KCKA 15.1, 15.2, 15.3 digital channels
CABLE:
Comcast channel 108 (HD, most areas in Western Washington)
Comcast channel 12 (most areas – in Tacoma, Comcast channel 3)
Click! (Tacoma) channel 3
Rainier Connect channel 10
Broadstripe channel 28 (varies by area)
Verizon FiOS channel 28
Frontier Cable: 528 (HD), 28 (SD), and 474 (MHz Worlview)
SATELLITE:
Dish channel 28 (may appear as 8620)
DirecTV channel 28 (may appear as 970)