Measles epidemic is fueled by vaccine politicization, doctors say

“Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we need to save lives and avoid serious illness,” said Juliano.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children receive two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, known as the MMR vaccine, starting when children are 12 to 15 months old, followed by 4 doses from 4 years to 4 months. A second dose is recommended for 6 years.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 28% of participants believed that parents should be able to decide not to give their children the MMR vaccine, even though it might pose a health risk to other children and adults. I know what you are thinking. That’s up from her 16% of adults who took part in the 2019 poll.

In the same poll, 35% of parents with children under the age of 18 believe parents should be able to decide not to have their children vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, up from 23% in 2019.

“This trend has real consequences,” says Juliano.

Current measles outbreak in central Ohio. Clark County Infant Case, up to 81 cases, including 29 children hospitalized, as of Tuesday. Cases included 76 unvaccinated children, 22 children under the age of 1 who were too young to be vaccinated, 3 children who received one dose of the MMR vaccine, and 2 whose vaccination status was unknown. Including children of people. No fully vaccinated children have contracted measles in this outbreak.

Roberts said he likely sees most of the hospitalizations due to the young age of those involved.

“Our young children are more susceptible to infections,” said Roberts.

Public health officials interviewed parents involved in measles outbreaks. Roberts said parents of children who weren’t old enough to be vaccinated and weren’t vaccinated had postponed vaccination due to concerns about autism. Research Shows The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no link between vaccination and developing an autism spectrum disorder.

According to Roberts, none of the parents cited access to vaccine providers as a reason their eligible children were not vaccinated.

“It was really a deliberate decision not to vaccinate our children,” Roberts said.

A recent Dayton Daily News survey found Moral opposition to school-required vaccinations is on the rise, with experts attributing anti-vaccine sentiment to misinformation.

According to the Times, more parents are opting out of vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B and chickenpox. The percentage of children entering kindergarten with a moral exemption from receiving such vaccines increased statewide last year, with 14 local schools putting him above 10%. He had only five schools cross that threshold in the previous year.

Across the state, the proportion of kindergarten children who were not vaccinated for moral or religious reasons rose from 2.4% to 3.2%. Last year, he increased the percentage of kindergarteners who received all the required vaccines statewide to 88.2%.of The Dayton Daily News reported earlier this year The decline in vaccination coverage in the 2020-2021 school year is largely due to access issues and school staff shortages at the height of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Roberts said vaccinations have been needlessly politicized, and this has continued since the pandemic.

“What we experienced at the height of the pandemic, especially when a COVID-19 vaccine became available, was how public health, and vaccines in particular, became or were politicized. I think this is something our country has never experienced before and I believe it will hurt public health going forward. Why have vaccines become a political issue?” rice field. “Vaccines are science. They are public health. And vaccines and public health should be non-political.”

If this trend continues, health officials fear a return of other vaccine-preventable diseases.

“There are many diseases that can be prevented with vaccines,” said Roberts. “What we fear is that further resistance and hesitance to vaccines could lead to a resurgence of other diseases such as hepatitis A and hepatitis B. , we are concerned about hepatitis A. We don’t want the United States to be one of those countries.”