Heather Meador with Linn County Public Health gave an update on vaccines at Voices United of Rural Linn County’s Wednesday, March 4, meeting.

Meador has served as a nurse for a long time, originally working in Solon and then for Jackson County Public Health.

“That’s when I discovered I had a passion for public health was working at Jackson County,” Meador said. “After that job, I continued to focus on jobs in public health.”

Meador’s talk was rescheduled in late January, when the event was cancelled due to inclement weather that evening.

Meador said that currently, 2026 is not looking like a good year when it comes to measles, with 1,136 confirmed cases nationally as of Feb. 26. In comparison, 2025 saw 2,242 measles cases overall.

“It’s alarming because this was a virus we were close to eradicating almost a decade ago,” Meador said. “And we’re now on a path that we’re seeing new cases on the rise.”

Part of the rise is just the decrease of individuals taking measles mumps and rubella vaccinations.

The virus is also very highly communicable, lingering in the air for up to two hours after someone infected has been in the area.

“Many people are infectious up to four days before the virus even shows a rash,” Meador said.

In 2025, Iowa had nine measles cases, with two located in Linn County.

As schools are getting into spring break, Meador said that she and health professionals are worried about increases in travel, especially to states like Arizona, Florida, South Carolina where cases are much higher and might have exposure levels increased.

Meador said while there are good levels of students who have had vaccinations at local schools, the worry is if it does hit a school, more people can be exposed to the viruses.

“We really do not want to put individuals into quarantine due to exposure if we don’t have to, but people can be hospitalized because of this virus,” Meador said.

Linn County’s level of those who have not been vaccinated has climbed from less than 2 percent in 2015-2016 to roughly 5 percent today. That amounts to more than 2,000 students who are not vaccinated.

State legislature is not helping, with a bill posed to reduce the proof of vaccination requirements for items like MMR, d-tap, pertussis and others.

Meador reminded in Linn County there were large outbreaks of pertussis at area schools in 2012 and 2015 where they had schools shut down to lower the spread. And unlike some of the other viruses, if you haven’t had a pertussis vaccination which protects for 10 years, that is a virus you can contract as soon as two weeks after recovering.

During questions, Meador said that d-tap, p-tap, and other vaccines wain over time, so if it has been over 10 years and you are worried about the possibility of contracting them to get a booster shot.

Most vaccines will start giving protection to the viruses in the vaccine seven to 10 days after they are administered.

One of the attendees asked if people remember having measles in the past, if they need to worry about getting a booster.

Meador said when it comes to measles and mumps, if you’ve had the virus before, you don’t have to worry. “If you can’t prove immunity by having had the virus before, and don’t have recollection of your last booster or a blood test shows you don’t have immunity, if you have been exposed to that virus, you would have to quarantine for 21 days,” Meador said.

As for if masks would be beneficial against the measles, Meador said no research shows that is helpful.

A question asked if RSV is a concern, and Meador said yes, it is.

“We know RSV is circulating like crazy,” Meador said. “What’s odd is it isn’t following the usual patterns of infection.”

Meador also advised when it comes to questions about health, people should contact their health professionals, not their phones or friends.

“We want our communities to be healthy, and that comes with seeking the right source,” Meador said.

When it came to people worried about MRNA created vaccines, Meador said the study into those types of vaccines started in the 1960s. In 2016, scientists had found a way to stabilize the spike protein in viruses, and in January 2020 Chinese scientists had given blueprints to fighting coronaviruses.

As for the impact of the United States pulling out of the World Health Organization, Meador said that was a travesty.

“We are a global nation, and we work to make sure those trevaling internationally have health vaccinations and medications,” Meador said. “We’re much better when we work together globally.”