COLUMBUS, Ohio – In the face of two of the nation’s largest outbreaks of infectious disease, two Ohio lawmakers say they will introduce legislation requiring kids in day care to be vaccinated for preventable ailments such as mumps and measles.
Reps. Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) and Ryan Smith (R-Bidwell) say the bill they plan to present in the Ohio House Wednesday will ensure that more children are immunized earlier.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio has a law requiring vaccines for children entering kindergarten but is the only state in the nation without a similar one for kids in preschool and day care.
Ohio health officials are distributing thousands of doses of vaccines in an effort to stem recent outbreaks of mumps and measles in the state.
The measles outbreak in Ohio is the largest in the U.S. since 1996.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, 73 people in six northern and north-central Ohio counties have been diagnosed with measles. The outbreak has been traced to a group of unvaccinated travelers who returned from the Philippines in March.
Columbus Public Health reports at least 342 people have been infected with mumps in Franklin, Delaware, Madison and 13 other counties since the first cases were reported on the Ohio State University campus in January.