The number of students who have not been vaccinated for measles in suburban Cook County has doubled in the past decade.

With school starting next week for thousands of students, health officials are urging parents to get their kids vaccinated.

Measles was believed to have been eliminated in the United States in 2000. But cases have steadily increased in recent years.

Right now, the U.S. is seeing the highest number of measles cases in more than 30 years — with more than 1,300 across the country. A total of 10 have been reported in Cook County.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show childhood vaccination rates have fallen again in the U.S. A total of 92.5% of kindergartners got the measles-mumps-rubella shot, down yet again from the previous year.

Before the COVID pandemic, 95% of kindergartners nationwide got the shot — the level necessary to maintain herd immunity.

"Our job is to educate, sort of combat some of the misinformation that's spread out there on social media — just to make sure they understand what's medically relevant, irrelevant, and to know the facts," said pediatrician Dr. Andrea Jakinovich.

Parents can now look up measles vaccination rates school-by-school across the state and use the new Illinois Department of Public Health measles simulator to determine the risk of a child being exposed if a case is introduced at school.

"Vaccines have been studied for years and years and years," Jakinovich said. "We want parents to understand that they're safe, that they're effective, and the bottom line is just really to prevent disease."

Two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended in children, and they typically protect people for life.

On Wednesday morning, health, religious, and community leaders will deliver what they call a united effort to encourage people to get vaccinated against measles.

The Illinois Department of Public Health also plans on rolling out a vaccination awareness campaign Wednesday.