Vaccine fights and measles
The Wall Street Journal asked an excellent question with the headline to one of its recent editorials: Didn't we already beat measles?
The answer is, yes, thanks to the measles-mumpsrubella (MMR) vaccine. But the disease still shows itself in this country, as is happening in Washington state where 53 cases have been confirmed, because many Americans forgo vaccines for their children.
The anti-vaccination movement has gained momentum the past several years, including in Oklahoma. Initially it was fueled by a study— since widely debunked— that tied vaccines to autism. That canard continues to make the rounds, but many parents also declare that they simply don't want their children to be vaccinated.
A 2018 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that more Oklahoma parents were opting out of childhood vaccines— the state's exemption rate grew by 0.3 percent between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years. Oklahoma's percentage of children entering kindergarten with the MMR vaccine was 92.6 percent, down from 97.3 percent in 2009-10. Experts say 95 percent coverage is needed to prevent epidemics.
Ten states have reported measles cases this year, but this problem is evident elsewhere. Last year in Europe, roughly 21,000 cases of measles were reported. Nearly one-fourth of those were from Italy alone.
The recent outbreak seen in Clark County, Washington, which prompted a state of emergency declaration by the governor, should come as no great surprise given that officials there say only 78 percent of the county's children age 6 to 18 received the recommended two doses of MMR. Officials say at least 47 of the 53 confirmed cases involve people who weren't immunized against measles.
Washington state allows exemptions to its vaccination law for medical and religious reasons, which would account for some of the 22 percent who aren't vaccinated, but it also allows parents to claim “philosophical” or “personal” reasons for not using vaccines.
Oklahoma law provides parents with similar latitude, and repeated efforts at the Legislature to strength the law have been unsuccessful. “It's our choice” is the refrain from parents who, as we have noted many times, reject vaccinations for their children while banking on most other parents getting their children vaccinated to produce the necessary “herd immunity.”
As has happened here whenever legislation was presented, lawmakers in Washington state were swamped by opponents of a bill that seeks to do away with the personal exemption. But in an encouraging sign, a House committee approved the bill last week and sent it on to the full House.
Dr. Eliza Chakravarty, an immunologist at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, said recently, “I sincerely hope we're not going to have to learn how dangerous these preventable diseases are the hard way before we correct course.” Amen to that.