With millions of U.S. Kids skipping vaccines, are Treasure Coast students at risk?

[Guest guest]

Interesting phone survey at the end

WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT VACCINES

• 71 percent think the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks.

• 66 percent had heard about the concerns that

side effects of vaccines might lead to autism,

diabetes or other medical problems.

• 56 percent said parents should be able to opt

out of vaccinating children because of " philosophical reasons. "

• 67 percent were concerned that about a quarter

of America's children did not have up-to-date vaccinations.

• 56 percent wanted their children to receive all

recommended vaccines as scheduled with no questions asked.

Scripps New Service phone survey

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at-risk/>http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/sep/14/with-fewer-kids-vaccinated-are-s\

tudents-at-risk/

With millions of U.S. Kids skipping vaccines, are

Treasure Coast students at risk?

BY LEE BOWMAN bowmanl@...

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Hundreds of thousands of American children,

including thousands in Florida, started school

this fall without protection from deadly diseases.

More parents are deciding not to vaccinate their

children against mumps, measles, polio and other

dangerous diseases because of concerns the

vaccinations are harmful, or because of the

growing cost and complexity of getting the shots.

Meanwhile, health officials are starting to worry

the growing number of unvaccinated children is

putting the safety of the whole nation at risk.

" We've already dropped below the level of vaccine

coverage where herd immunity exists for some

diseases, " said Offit, chief of infectious

diseases and director of the vaccine institute at

Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. " At some

point, we're going to be forced to decide whether

it is an inalienable right to catch and transmit potentially fatal infections. "

At least 135,000 children, out of about 4 million

new students, started kindergarten last fall

exempt from vaccine requirements, according to a

Scripps News Service review of surveys

submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention. One in 10 children did not get

vaccinated in some states, and in some

communities, 30 percent of the children were unprotected.

Last year, almost 14,000 Florida students —

including hundreds in Treasure Coast schools —

went to kindergarten and first grade without

up-to-date vaccinations, according to state

health department records. Those kids represented

6.5 percent of the student body.

Another national report issued in April from the

Centers for Disease Control found more than one

in four toddlers under age 2 are not being

vaccinated as recommended, mostly because of

doses being missed rather than no shots at all.

Concerns vaccines somehow are causing autism, the

neurological disorder affecting a growing number

of children, has been one of the primary reasons

behind the increasing numbers of unvaccinated

kids. The bulk of scientific studies have found

no link between vaccines and autism or other

neurological disorders, but parents such as

Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National

Vaccine Information Center, remain skeptical.

" We've seen a doubling of the number of vaccines

and doses that the government recommends to stay

health before age 6, while at the same time we've

seen a tripling of the number of children with

learning disabilities, asthma, diabetes and other

conditions, " Fisher said. " No one is saying this

is necessarily all due to the increase in

vaccines, but vaccines shouldn't be left off the

table when no one has come up with an answer. "

Until a large-scale, independent study — one so

large no medical organization has agreed to

sponsor — clears vaccines of their connection

with autism, Fisher and parents like her feel

they should be allowed to opt out of vaccinating

their children or changing the dosing schedules.

But health officials say those choices are

letting old diseases, ones doctors have studied

but never seen, return to childhood.

A series of measles outbreaks through July

represented the greatest surge of the disease in

this country in more than a decade. The virus

infected at least 131 people in 15 states, and

most — 112 — were not vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Of the 95 measles patients eligible for

vaccination, 63 had not gotten shots because of

religious or philosophical beliefs.

Seventeen of the victims picked up the disease

overseas, but the rest were infected in the United States.

In all but two states, parents can obtain

exemption from mandatory school vaccinations if

they declare immunization contrary to their

religious beliefs. Twenty states also allow

exemptions based on " personal belief " or

philosophical objection to vaccines. Every state

allows children to be excused from vaccine

requirements if a doctor finds the shots might jeopardize their health.

States, including Florida, that readily grant

exemptions had more unvaccinated children,

according to Saad Omer, assistant professor at

Emory University's School of Public Health in

Atlanta, and several other leading vaccine

researchers in a 2006 report. Infection rates of

pertussis, or whooping cough, also were 50 percent higher in those states.

The unvaccinated puts everyone — even people with vaccinations — at risk.

" Most first-line vaccines are about 85 to 95

percent effective, so even those who have done

the right thing by getting vaccinated on time

have a 10 to 20 percent chance they're still

unprotected, " Omer said. " So if I'm one of those

people, what are the consequences of people

around me not doing the right thing? It puts me in a great deal of danger. "

ON THE WEB

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, <http://www.cdc.gov/nvpo>www.cdc.gov/nvpo

• Nation Network for Immunization Information,

<http://www.immunizationinfo.org/>www.immunizationinfo.org

• American Academy of Pediatrics Childhood

Immunization and Support Program, www. cispimmunizie.org

• National Vaccine Information Center, www. nvic.org

WHAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT VACCINES

• 71 percent think the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks.

• 66 percent had heard about the concerns that

side effects of vaccines might lead to autism,

diabetes or other medical problems.

• 56 percent said parents should be able to opt

out of vaccinating children because of " philosophical reasons. "

• 67 percent were concerned that about a quarter

of America's children did not have up-to-date vaccinations.

• 56 percent wanted their children to receive all

recommended vaccines as scheduled with no questions asked.

Scripps New Service phone survey

VACCINE FACTS

American children can receive by the time they

are 12 as many as 35 shots to protect against 34 diseases.

DTP: Five doses by age 6 to prevent:

• Diptheria — a bacterial infection that can

cause heart and nerve problems and has a 10 percent to 20 percent death rate

• Pertussis — a bacterial infection, also called

whooping cough, that can cause prolonged coughing

spells lasting for weeks and sometimes lead to brain damage

• Tetanus — bacterial infection found in common

soil and animal waste causing stiffness and

muscle spasms; 30 percent of infections kill the patient.

Hib: Four doses by 15 months to prevent:

• Hib (haemophilus influenzae type — bacterial

infection that can strike the brain, blood, lungs

or throat to kill or cause deafness, mental retardation

MMR: Two doses at 12 months, 4 to 6 years to prevent:

• Measles — viral infection easily spread by

sneezing or coughing that causes about 20 percent

of patients to have infections including pneumonia

• Mumps — viral infection that can cause

paralysis, seizures and deafness and, in adults, sever reproductive problems

• Rubella — viral infection that usually is mild in children

VACCINE COSTS

High costs and complicated dosing schedules might

deter some parents from vaccinating their children.

• Fully vaccinating a boy to age 12 cost $927 in

2007 and $1,214 for a girl, including a vaccine

against cervical cancer — up from $155 in 1995.

• In 2003, 16 percent of children covered by

private health insurance had plans that did not pay for vaccines.

• Insurance often doesn't cover doctors' costs.

Medicaid pays only $2 for a vaccine — barely the

cost of a needle and syringe — in some states.

• Some health departments, including those on the

Treasure Coast, offer free vaccines for children,

but experts estimate nearly 2 million

underinsured children aren't getting help in 30 states.

Scripps News Service research