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An outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) recently occurred at Yuba River Charter School. The Public Health Department, in cooperation with the local school, has taken measures to contain the outbreak so that no more children are infected. A vaccine that protects children from pertussis has been available for years. Because immunity from the vaccine wanes, there is a new pertussis vaccine for adolescents and adults under 65 years of age.
Pertussis, caused by a bacterium, is highly contagious. For older children and adults, pertussis usually causes a nasty, prolonged cough. For infants, it can be very serious, even deadly. Before the vaccine, several thousand deaths in the U.S. were due to pertussis annually. Fortunately, pertussis-related deaths are now rare; for example, from 2001-2003 the Centers for Disease Control received 56 reports of pertussis-related deaths, the vast majority in infants.
The disease is marked by a cough so hard and persistent children often can't catch their breath, which causes a "whooping" sound when they attempt to breathe in against a windpipe narrowed by mucus. Vomiting after the cough is not uncommon. Pneumonia and seizures can also develop. If you want to hear the cough, go to www.whoopingcough.net.
Federal law requires that all children entering kindergarten and in child care be vaccinated against whooping cough and 10 other vaccine-preventable diseases. California, however, has passed a law that allows parents to exempt their child from being vaccinated based on "personal beliefs" simply by signing a form.
Nevada County's immunization levels are alarmingly low. In 2005, only 78 percent of children entering kindergarten, a figure duplicated by children in child care, were fully immunized compared to 93 percent state-wide. We had the lowest percentage of any county in the state. A primary reason for that low percentage is the high percentage of parents who claimed a "Personal Belief Exemption." In 2005, 11.4 percent of children were exempted from immunization based on personal beliefs compared to 1.33 percent in the state. Only two other counties have PBE figures in the double digits.
Why are our low percentages worrisome? Because we want all children to be protected from disease and having them fully vaccinated helps provide that protection. But also because we need to maintain "community immunity" in order to protect against an outbreak of disease. While the exact percentage needed to create a protective "herd immunity" is difficult to calculate, there is abundant evidence that lower immunization levels increase risk. Higher immunization levels help protect those too young to be vaccinated, those who do not respond to the vaccine, those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, and the elderly who may have lost their immunity. Also, many of the diseases we barely concern ourselves with anymore are quite common in other parts of the world. We now live in a global village; there have been some notable disease outbreaks in the United States in the past few years that have been the result of international travel.
We respect parents who are trying so hard to make the right decisions for their children, but parents need to ask themselves if the vaccine's benefits clearly and definitively outweigh its risks. Doctors, scientists, and public health professionals are almost unanimous: the effects of the diseases are much greater than the effects of the vaccines.
Parents who claim a PBE for their child do so for a variety of reasons. They often cite a concern about vaccine safety. It's true that no vaccine is 100 percent safe. The most common side effects are tenderness and redness at the site of the injection, and some vaccines cause more serious side effects but these are rare.
In response to the county's low immunization levels, a broad coalition of community organizations have come together to launch an educational campaign. The Department of Public Health, First 5, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, local Rotaries, the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, Miners and Sierra Family community clinics, Sierra Care Physicians and others have designed a multi-pronged campaign and committed time and money to its implementation. We will launch the campaign, called "Protecting Our Children, Protecting Our Community" in January.
An old Japanese proverb says, "Natural calamities strike about the time one forgets their terror." Vaccine-preventable diseases, except for smallpox, have not been eradicated. We must remember the "terror" of these diseases in order to avoid the natural calamity of their resurgence. Immunizations protect children.
ooo
Jean Soliz-Conklin is the executive director at First 5 Nevada County.
Pertussis, caused by a bacterium, is highly contagious. For older children and adults, pertussis usually causes a nasty, prolonged cough. For infants, it can be very serious, even deadly. Before the vaccine, several thousand deaths in the U.S. were due to pertussis annually. Fortunately, pertussis-related deaths are now rare; for example, from 2001-2003 the Centers for Disease Control received 56 reports of pertussis-related deaths, the vast majority in infants.
The disease is marked by a cough so hard and persistent children often can't catch their breath, which causes a "whooping" sound when they attempt to breathe in against a windpipe narrowed by mucus. Vomiting after the cough is not uncommon. Pneumonia and seizures can also develop. If you want to hear the cough, go to www.whoopingcough.net.
Federal law requires that all children entering kindergarten and in child care be vaccinated against whooping cough and 10 other vaccine-preventable diseases. California, however, has passed a law that allows parents to exempt their child from being vaccinated based on "personal beliefs" simply by signing a form.
Nevada County's immunization levels are alarmingly low. In 2005, only 78 percent of children entering kindergarten, a figure duplicated by children in child care, were fully immunized compared to 93 percent state-wide. We had the lowest percentage of any county in the state. A primary reason for that low percentage is the high percentage of parents who claimed a "Personal Belief Exemption." In 2005, 11.4 percent of children were exempted from immunization based on personal beliefs compared to 1.33 percent in the state. Only two other counties have PBE figures in the double digits.
Why are our low percentages worrisome? Because we want all children to be protected from disease and having them fully vaccinated helps provide that protection. But also because we need to maintain "community immunity" in order to protect against an outbreak of disease. While the exact percentage needed to create a protective "herd immunity" is difficult to calculate, there is abundant evidence that lower immunization levels increase risk. Higher immunization levels help protect those too young to be vaccinated, those who do not respond to the vaccine, those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, and the elderly who may have lost their immunity. Also, many of the diseases we barely concern ourselves with anymore are quite common in other parts of the world. We now live in a global village; there have been some notable disease outbreaks in the United States in the past few years that have been the result of international travel.
We respect parents who are trying so hard to make the right decisions for their children, but parents need to ask themselves if the vaccine's benefits clearly and definitively outweigh its risks. Doctors, scientists, and public health professionals are almost unanimous: the effects of the diseases are much greater than the effects of the vaccines.
Parents who claim a PBE for their child do so for a variety of reasons. They often cite a concern about vaccine safety. It's true that no vaccine is 100 percent safe. The most common side effects are tenderness and redness at the site of the injection, and some vaccines cause more serious side effects but these are rare.
In response to the county's low immunization levels, a broad coalition of community organizations have come together to launch an educational campaign. The Department of Public Health, First 5, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, local Rotaries, the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, Miners and Sierra Family community clinics, Sierra Care Physicians and others have designed a multi-pronged campaign and committed time and money to its implementation. We will launch the campaign, called "Protecting Our Children, Protecting Our Community" in January.
An old Japanese proverb says, "Natural calamities strike about the time one forgets their terror." Vaccine-preventable diseases, except for smallpox, have not been eradicated. We must remember the "terror" of these diseases in order to avoid the natural calamity of their resurgence. Immunizations protect children.
ooo
Jean Soliz-Conklin is the executive director at First 5 Nevada County.
