Lack of vaccination in United States is a travesty
Since the beginning of the year, 26 people have died of measles in the Philippines. Madagascar is also in the throes of a devastating outbreak of the disease. Meanwhile, Clark County in Washington State has confirmed 49 cases of measles. Nine other states including Colorado have also reported cases. It’s a tragedy that poor people in developing countries around the world lack access to life-saving vaccines. It’s a travesty that people in the wealthiest country in the world have access to vaccines and shun them.
Vaccines have been saving lives since Edward Jenner administered the first successful inoculation 222 years ago. Since then scientists have developed safe vaccines for major communicable diseases. Prior to the 1963 advent of the measles vaccine, millions of Americans suffered from the disease and as many as 500 Americans died each year. People suffering from the virus are susceptible to encephalitis and pneumonia, both of which can be deadly. Those who overcome encephalitis may suffer deafness, seizures or brain damage.
As with other vaccine-preventable diseases, around 95 percent of the population must be fully inoculated (two doses for measles) in order to prevent an outbreak. Some people cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and some people who are vaccinated do not acquire immunity. For this reason, everyone who can be inoculated should be to produce community-level immunity against deadly diseases.
According to state law, children are required to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, Haemophilus bacteria (causes meningitis, epiglottitis, and pneumonia) and bacterial pneumonia in order to enroll in a Colorado licensed child care facility or school. There’s a loophole in the law, however; parents can claim a religious or personal belief exemption from vaccination requirements. The latter is sometimes called a philosophical exemption as though one can be philosophically opposed to a proven medical cure (see Plato’s Penicillin Dialogue and Descartes Proof of Beta-blockers). No major religion opposes vaccinations.
A new report by the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, the vast majority of vaccination exemptions were for personal beliefs (88-90 percent depending on the age group). The remainder were for medical or religious reasons. Colorado is one of 18 states that allow personal/philosophical opt-outs. While the percentage of kindergartners claiming exemptions has fallen over the decade, the state remains among the states with the highest number of nonmedical exemptions.
Colorado immunization rates have improved over the past few years. The state ranks 23rd in the nation for vaccination rates (71 percent) for children aged 19 to 35 months compared to 45th place in 2013. Nevertheless, 57,366 Colorado K-12 students and more than 8,000 children in child care did not have all their shots in the 2016-17 school year. The coalition report noted 13 Colorado counties where more than half of children are not up to date on vaccinations. Even in districts with high vaccination rates, there are schools with immunization levels insufficient to ward off an outbreak.
The legislature has taken steps to increase vaccination levels in the state. Lawmakers passed a bill in 2014 to require schools to provide immunization and exemption rates which the Department of Health and Environment makes available to the public. Additionally, the department now requires parents to renew their requests for nonmedical exemptions each year. Perhaps it is time to remove the philosophical exemption altogether. Parents with genuine medical and religious concerns would still have the option to exempt their children from vaccines.
In 2017, 109,000 people died from measles worldwide. Their deaths were preventable. While helping children and adults get lifesaving vaccines in remote or impoverished communities around the world will remain a challenge for some time, there is no reason more Colorado children cannot attain the advantage of vaccines now.