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The one-day vaccination campaign against David Douglas School in Oregon was very crowded last week; people had to wait more than an hour to see a nurse. Cameron Wagner said it was worthwhile to vaccinate his four-year-old son despite fears of possible side effects. "I talked to the doctors and decided to get vaccinated," said Wagner, 46.
Measles, which has spread to the northwestern United States and elsewhere this year, has been a major force to change the thinking of many Americans. Wagner said that she had kept her son Lux away from overcrowded gambling places and other public places in recent weeks, where disturbing news was spreading, and she was having it. enough.
With the spread of the epidemic, vaccination rates have increased in Oregon, where 7.5% of people have rejected non-medical vaccines, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country's highest .
As parents of unaffiliated children such as Lux, health officials expressed hope for increased awareness. In Oregon and southwestern Washington, where measles cases are concentrated, the number of children immunized has tripled this year compared to the same period in 2018. Since January, according to federal health records , 10 states have reported measles cases, Eliminate them, which have been a major threat to public health for almost 20 years.
Of the 101 confirmed cases across the country, there were 53 in southwestern Washington, on the other side of the Columbia River, and four in Multnomah County, which includes Portland. The rejection or resistance to vaccination may be linked to a broader movement against immunization, including the fear that vaccines will lead to autism, a widely refuted notion.
According to experts, the fears raised by the epidemic could override these fears. "It's hard to predict in the long run," said Jennifer Vines, head of the Multnomah County Department of Health, Jennifer Vines.
According to epidemiologists, the percentage of children who are not immunized against measles varies from one school to another, most of the time at lower or near protection levels, thus eliminating the virus. However, in some schools in the City of Portland, 10% to 20% or more of students are not vaccinated for non-medical reasons.
At least seven US schools have measles immunization rates below 80%, which is lower than some developing countries, such as Guatemala, where 86% of children are protected between 2 and 12 months of the epidemic, or 88%. International.
Beautiful persuasion
One segment of Americans rejects all vaccines and thinks that they are harmful, while moderates seem preoccupied with timing and side effects of vaccines. Immunization advocates say that gentle persuasion helps to change the minds of families to protect their children from the disease.
"We are wrong, if we degrade families who choose not to be vaccinated," says pediatrician Dr. Matthew Daley. "They do not want to hurt their kids and they've heard a lot of bad things, we need to talk to them where they were not."
However, health officials have not yet convinced everyone: Wagner, whose son was vaccinated against measles, says he has not changed his mind about the safety of all vaccines.
"Seven schools
American registered
Vaccination rate
Against measles less
80%, namely
Less than some
Developing countries ".
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