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As measles cases rise, King County holding free vaccination clinic for children

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — On Tuesday, children will be able to receive free measles vaccines at an event in Federal Way as Senator Patty Murray will talk about the importance of vaccinations on Capitol Hill.

A vaccination clinic for children up to 18 years old will be held at Federal Way High School.

The clinic comes as two new measles cases were reported in Washington state over the weekend, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 71, with 70 cases in Clark County and 1 case in King.

Most of the patients have been young children who were not vaccinated.

Many parents of those children say they fear the shots could lead to autism, but many researchers have refuted that, including a new study that came out of Denmark this week.

It looked at all children born in that country over the last 10 years and showed the MMR vaccine does not trigger autism in children at high risk of developing that disorder.

The clinic, which is hosted by Public Health - Seattle & King County, will be held at the high school at 30611 16th Ave S, from 2:15 to 8 p.m. No appointment is needed and Varicella (chicken pox), Hepatitis B, Polio, DTaP and Tdap vaccinations are available at no charge as well, while supplies last.

Get more information about the clinic here.

The Centers for Disease Control said so far this year, there have been 206 cases of measles in 11 states.

About one-third of the cases are in Washington.

Public health officials say 21 days must pass without a new case before the outbreak can be considered over.

Find information about measles from the state Department of Health here.