gr.vaccines

Dr. Jay Rosenbloom, a Portland pediatrician, is pushing parents to vaccinate their children against measles, mumps, and rubella, also called German measles. Angela Schenck holds her 2-year-old son, George, who was just vaccinated.

(The Oregonian/2013)

Oregon has retained its ranking nationwide as the state with the highest number of unvaccinated school children.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that the latest exemptions rates range from 0.4 percent of kindergarteners claiming a nonmedical exemption in Virginia and Washington D.C. to a high of 7 percent in Oregon. The state has a relatively low number of students claiming a medical exemption -- 0.1 percent.

The exemption rate worries state public health officials. The greater the number of immunized people, the better the barrier against the spreading of infectious diseases. So far this year, the state has confirmed five cases of measles, though none since March. About 6.5 percent of kindergarteners are not immunized against measles for philosophical, religious or personal reasons, according to Dr. Paul Cieslak, head of communicable disease at the Oregon Public Health Division. He said if that rate keeps rising – it was about 1 percent in 2000 – the illness could gain a toehold, spreading like a wildfire among pockets in the community who are not immunized.

There has also been a steady drumbeat of pertussis -- or whooping cough -- cases, with 291 through August.

A new law that went into effect in March requires parents seeking exemption for their kindergarteners to be educated -- either through their heathcare provider or by reading online materials -- about the benefits and risks involved with vaccinations. Public health officials hope this will encourage more parents to have their kids immunized.

-- Lynne Terry