EDITORIAL: Opinion: Vaccine survey is reason for concern

Nov. 09--email

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NEW statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding childhood vaccinations will give heartburn to health officials in Oklahoma but, unfortunately, are not likely to prompt the Legislature to act.

With a few exceptions, lawmakers have shown no interest in strengthening the state's law, which mandates that children receive their vaccinations before starting kindergarten -- unless an exception is granted for medical, religious or other reasons.

A recent survey by the CDC shows that more Oklahoma parents are opting out. The state's exemption rate grew by 0.3 percent between the 2016-17 and 2017-18 school years.

This "anti-vax" mindset isn't confined to Oklahoma. It's evident across the country and overseas. Europe saw about 21,000 cases of measles last year, a four-fold increase over 2016. Italy had more than 5,000 of those cases. In parts of that country the vaccination rate is just 85 percent, well below the 95 percent that health experts say is needed to prevent epidemics.

The CDC found that Oklahoma's percentage of children entering kindergarten with the MMR vaccine -- measles, mumps, rubella -- was just 92.6 percent (it was 97.3 percent in 2009-2010). The national average is 94.3 percent.

Among Oklahoma public school students, 2.1 percent of students claimed at least one type of exemption to vaccinations, according to CDC data provided by the state Health Department. Among private school students, 5.6 percent of students did the same.

State epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley said it's "obvious that we still have work to do to reach the nationwide target of 95 percent coverage" for MMR. "Unless we can assure that children entering school are protected through immunization," she said, "we are continuing to be at the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases."

In February, health officials reported Oklahoma's first case of measles since 2015. Oklahoma also has seen outbreaks of mumps in recent years.

Members of the Legislature have reacted with yawns, rejecting efforts to change Oklahoma's law in any way, whether that was by removing all non-medical exemptions, or removing all but religious exemptions, or keeping the exemptions but making parents watch a brief video before opting for a non-medical exemption. During the 2018 session, a bill to allow only medical exemptions was drummed out of a Senate committee with just three "yes" votes.

One legislator, Sen. Ervin Yen, R-Oklahoma City, is a physician who has led the push to bolster Oklahoma's law. But Yen lost his primary election in June, and it's unlikely anyone else will continue the fight -- lawmakers have generally said this issue is best left to parents, not the government.

We hope we'll be proven wrong. Oklahoma already ranks poorly in several health measurements. Stronger vaccination laws can help turn some of those rankings in a better direction.

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