ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Pinellas County Health Dept. says it’s still trying to narrow the source of a measles outbreak, the first to hit the area in 20 years.
That’s gotten the attention of parents like Andrea Boggs, a St. Pete mother of three with a fourth on the way. For now, she’s chosen not to vaccinate them.
Boggs, like other moms, would sure like to know where the cases were located.
"I would still go out and live life, but I would be more cautious of like, don't go to this park, they were at the park," she said. "So, I would go to a different park."
But the Pinellas County Health Department says while it understands the frustration, citing Florida law, it can’t legally say where the measles cases have been identified.
"You would want that information, of course, but that is not something that's released per the public health chapter of the Florida statutes," said Maggie Hall with the Department of Health.
Health officials would confirm there have been no new cases reported in the past week. They’re still investigating a single case in one household and two cases in another for a total of three.
None of the patients had been immunized. All of them contracted the disease locally.
The news was concerning enough that it got at least one popular doctors group in the area changing its patient policy. St. Petersburg Pediatrics offices posted a notice letting parents know that they have either 30 days to get immunized or find another doctor.
Parents like Jason Wooten says that seems only right to him. His daughter Aria was vaccinated, and Wooten believes when other parents choose not to do so it places others at risk.
"They are gambling with their kids...and other people's kids," Wooten said.
For now, the Health Department's investigation continues as they try to follow a timeline. Their goal is to identify a place where both parties with measles could’ve come in contact.
The health department says the best defense is still trying to convince parents like Andrea Boggs to get their kids vaccinated.
"Why subject your child to a disease that is vaccine preventable?" Hall said.
A decision that - for now - she’s decided to leave to fate.
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