| UPDATE - According to the CDC, 96.1% of kindergartners in West Virginia were vaccinated for the measles in the 2013-2014 school year.
That's above the 94.7% national median.
"Compared to other states, we're amongst the top states in the country, if not the best in having the ability to vaccinate our kids at school entry," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, West Virginia's State Health Officer.
Only one West Virginia county in our area, Mingo County, ranks below the recommended 95%.
Those high rates of vaccination could change if the WV legislature passes a proposed bill for exemptions.
ORIGINAL STORY - Ohio is leading the nation with 383 measles cases reported last year, with new cases continuing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ohio health officials believe the state's outbreak started among un-vaccinated Amish in Knox County.
The CDC says measles is highly contagious because it spreads through the air by coughing and sneezing. The symptoms include fever and a rash that spreads over the body and can be deadly.
WV Republicans have been pushing a parental rights bill to allow parents to exempt their children from the vaccine, including religious grounds.
The WV Senate, stripped the religious rights section from the proposed bill this week, but supporters said they will continue to seek support for the bill.
Dreama Mace, Executive Director of the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department said, "The board supports West Virginia's current school immunization requirements. These requirements are very effective at keeping immunization rates high, preventing disease outbreaks and keeping students healthy and in school."
A press release says allowing non-medical exemptions (personal belief/religious) to school immunization requirements or removing the medical exemption review process would only result in increasing the number of exemptions taken, reduce immunization rates, and provide an opportunity for vaccine- preventable disease outbreaks to occur in schools and communities.
Mace said West Virginia's school immunization requirements have enabled West Virginia to obtain some of the highest Kindergarten immunization rates in the nation, which keeps outbreaks of vaccine- preventable diseases at bay.
One major factor that has resulted in the reduction of immunization rates in other states are personal belief exemptions to school immunization requirements, Mace said.
Some states allow personal belief exemptions so that parents can opt out of vaccinating their children due to their personal beliefs.
Others use these exemptions out of convenience - when it takes less time and effort to obtain an exemption than to get a child vaccinated, she said.
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