Parents agree that food, exercise and education are important to help keep their children healthy. The same goes for childhood immunizations. Vaccinating children on time is the best way to protect them against serious and potentially deadly diseases.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from January 1st to February 27, 2015, there have been four measles outbreaks across the United States and 170 cases in 17 states – many of which were part of the largest, ongoing outbreak in the country linked to Disneyland in California. The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated.
It’s why we’ve heard a lot about measles in the news for the last few months. It’s why school districts in Albuquerque and Santa Fe made national headlines when they worked with parents to ensure students were either up to date on their immunizations, or had made appointments to get their vaccinations, or that they provided a state-approved exemption form.
New Mexico law requires children be vaccinated to attend school, but it allows exemptions for medical and religious reasons.
The New Mexico Department of Health last week compiled vaccine exemption data for each public school district in the state for the 2014 – 2015 school year. It shows 90 students – that’s less than half of one percent of children in the Las Cruces Public School district – have a state exemption.
Getting as many children vaccinated in public schools as possible is very important to maintain what’s called herd immunity. Herd immunity is hard to explain in easy to understand terms, but basically you and I are part of a herd of people. I’ve gotten all my shots. You’ve gotten all your shots. We’ve grown up and made sure all our children received their vaccinations too.
Well, when you add up all of us who have gotten our vaccinations, the vaccination level is so high that it protects even the unvaccinated from becoming sick. Vaccine preventable viruses or bacteria have little to no place to breed and live.
In other words, when the community at large is protected, it means people who are not eligible to be vaccinated–such as infants, pregnant women, and immunocompromised people–get some measure of protection from the disease because the collective community immunity doesn’t give it room to spread. This also means that even if a vaccine is not 100% effective (and none of them are, biology doesn’t work that way), people are unlikely to get sick because the disease is just not around.
That’s why there is no polio in the United States and why there are so few cases of whooping cough and measles. It’s also why the Department of Health is so concerned about the recent outbreak of measles cases wherever they happen in the U.S.
The New Mexico Department of Health recommends everyone who can should be immunized. When enough people don't vaccinate, herd immunity begins to crumble. The first to suffer are vulnerable populations that because of age or illness can't be vaccinated.
Myths and misinformation about vaccine safety can confuse parents who are trying to make sound decisions about their children's health care, but vaccines are held to the highest standard of safety. The CDC reports the United States currently has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history. Years of testing are required by law before a vaccine can be licensed, and once in use, vaccines are continually monitored for safety and effectiveness.
It is the subject much public debate, but there’s only one clear way to avoid vaccine preventable disease – and that’s vaccination. It’s the best way any parent can what's best for her child.