Senator Boxer visits Bay Area to push for new vaccine legislation
EMERYVILLE, (KGO) -- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer is joining forces with California State Senator Dr. Richard Pan, who is a pediatrician, to push for new legislation that would ensure more children are protected against measles.
They will visit the Head Start Center in Emeryville on Wednesday to address the importance of vaccinations for kids as young as preschool.
Senator Boxer has led the effort to require kids in Head Start programs nationwide to get vaccinated.
She joined with other lawmakers to introduce legislation that would make vaccinations mandatory, except for children with certain medical conditions.
The number of measles cases in the United States continues to grow.
Most of those are in California - 20 new cases were just reported in the last week.
Since January 1, the CDC has confirmed 141 cases in 17 states.
Of those infected, 113 visited or worked at Disneyland or had contact with somebody who was there. Ten cases are linked to a second outbreak at an Illinois daycare center. Officials have not tracked down how the remaining 18 got the virus.
Most of those infected were not vaccinated.
Health officials are seeing an unusually high number of adults who have the virus.
VIDEO: Why measles is the most contagious of all viruses
For detailed information from the CDC on measles, click here.
And click here for full coverage on the measles outbreak.
