Immunization rates increased by nearly 500% in counties facing a measles epidemic

Clark County, Washington State, is facing a measles epidemic. As a result, demand for vaccines has almost tripled – mainly by anti-vaxxer parents, reports Kaiser Health News.

Take the example of the county's Vancouver Clinic, which reported administering a total of 263 injections in January 2018. A year later, the same clinic was responsible for 1,444 injections in January 2019.

At the same time, orders for the entire county grew by almost 500%, from 530 in January 2018 to 3,150 in January 2019.

The heart of this claim seems to come from parents who had never been allowed to vaccinate their children for ethical reasons or because of unfounded rumors linking vaccines to autism. (For the record, there are legitimate medical reasons for not taking vaccines, described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but they are much less common, such as a life-threatening allergy or immune system. weakened by illness or chemotherapy.)

Officials estimate that only 76.5% of Clark County children in kindergarten have received all the necessary immunizations for the 2017-2018 school year, well below the 90-95% threshold required to obtain the immunity of the flock. In addition, the number of children in the United States who have not been vaccinated against preventable diseases has quadrupled since 2001.

"During an outbreak, we see an influx of patients who would otherwise be reluctant to the vaccine," Virginia Ramos, Infection Prevention Nurse at the Sea Community Health Center, told Kaiser Health News. Tue.

"We are just happy that we are prepared and that there is a vaccine available."

State records show that there were 53 confirmed cases of measles in Clark County alone, but others are suspected at the time of writing. Of these, at least 47 of the patients had not been immunized against the disease. In another case, the patient had only received the first of two recommended doses of MMR vaccine, while the vaccine status had not yet been verified for the other five.

The CDC advises having two doses of measles vaccine (or MMR). The first between 12 and 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years.

"The measles vaccine is not perfect, but a dose is 93% effective at preventing disease," said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County Health Officer and Director of Public Health, in a statement.

"The two recommended doses of measles vaccine provide even greater protection – 97%."

Washington is currently one of 17 US states offering non-medical exemptions from vaccines that would otherwise be needed for school entry, but Rep. Paul Harris (R-Vancouver) hopes to change this in the light of recent outbreaks. . Last month, he introduced a bill that would eliminate exemptions from personal beliefs – at least for the MMR vaccine.

But it is not only the state of Washington that has seen a resurgence in the number of measles cases in recent years. New York City and New York State are experiencing their own epidemics, while a recent report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) last week found that the number of measles cases in Europe is now 15 times higher than in 2016.