A panel of the Arizona House decides to expand the number of immunization exemptions despite an ongoing measles epidemic

While the measles outbreak continues to worsen in the Pacific Northwest, an expert panel from Arizona House has approved several bills aimed at extending the exemptions from vaccines in the state, reported Friday the Republic of Arizona.

The paper said the House of Representatives Committee on Health and Social Services had approved three bills with 5 to 4 votes and support from Republican lawmakers. Representative Nancy Barto, who sponsored the bills, said that vaccinations are "not a one-size-fits-all solution for all children". The bills included widening the exemptions for religious reasons and removing the requirement to sign a document by the parents or guardian. to refuse vaccinations.

But health officials have warned of the potential dangers of allowing new exemptions in the state. Bob England, former director of the Maricopa County Public Health Department, told Arizona Republic in a separate report released Saturday that an epidemic in the Phoenix area could result in a devastating public health problem :

"We do not have the lowest vaccination rates or the highest exemption rates in the country. But we are so fat that if you have an epidemic here – say that a case of measles falls in one of these schools with a really low vaccination rate – and you catch several new cases of measles immediately "said England.

"There are enough of us and our population is so mobile that there is a very good chance, I think, that you are getting enough cases of these initial cases to cope with a continuing, widespread outbreak."

Meanwhile, the measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest, which struck Oregon and the state of Washington early in the year, has worsened . The Washington State Department of Health announced this week that 66 cases of measles have been confirmed, including one in King County and 65 in Clark County, where the outbreak is concentrated. The Oregonian reported Sunday that up to five cases had been confirmed in its state.

In Clark County, the Department of Public Health noted that 47 of the confirmed cases in the region involved children 10 years of age or younger. Of a total of 65 cases in the county, 57 involved people who were not vaccinated and two people received only one dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine rather than the recommended dose.

Lawmakers in the state of Washington have recently introduced a bill to limit immunization exemptions for children of school age. The Health and Wellness Committee approved Bill 10-5 with support from the Democrats and its sponsor, Representative Paul Harris, who was the only Republican party to vote for the bill.