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The FDA official said the federal government may be called on to intervene if states do not insist on getting children vaccinated. This comes as the state of Washington faces an epidemic that has led to a state of emergency.
Forty-seven states allow parents to exempt their children from vaccination. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), although most states allow them for religious reasons, 17 states provide for philosophical exemptions because of personal, moral, or other beliefs.
"Some states have made such significant exemptions that they create a risk of epidemics of a magnitude that will have national implications," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Tuesday. of an interview with CNN. He went on to say that if some states do not change course, it could "force the hand of the federal health agencies".
However, Gottlieb did not specify what actions could be taken.
Washington lawmakers this week were weighing two measures that would prevent parents from asking for a personal or philosophical exemption to vaccinating their school-aged children. The bills come from a measles outbreak that has sickened at least 65 people in the state. Washington Governor Jay Inslee said the state of emergency last month.
The epicenter is located in Clark County, southwest of Washington, where 64 cases have been listed. Among them, 56 patients were not vaccinated and two people received one dose of the vaccine, health officials said. It is not known if the other six cases received the vaccine. Forty-six cases were found in children aged one to ten years.
Clark County reported an MMR vaccine rate of 77.8% for 19 to 35 months in 2015, according to the Washington State Department of Health. This decreased to 74.1% in 2016 and then to 69.7% in 2017. But since the outbreak, orders for the vaccine have increased 500% in January compared to the previous year, according to Kaiser Health News.
The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics are among the groups that require fewer immunization exemptions.
According to the NCSL, California, Mississippi and West Virginia are the only states that do not have religious or personal exemptions for vaccination.
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