Orcas Drop-in Immunization Clinic May 31 at County Health Offices, Orcas Senior Center
By Iris Graville, Orcas Island School Nurse
Here’s what we islanders do for each other. We make meals when a new baby arrives or when someone goes through chemotherapy. When a family’s house burns down, we give shelter and help build a new one. Some of us mentor school kids, others drive shuttle buses for seniors, and many serve on the boards of non-profits.
But we’re missing the boat when it comes to one important way to help our communities – immunizations.
Earlier this year, two health reports singled out San Juan County. The first, a survey by the University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institute, named ours the healthiest county in Washington State, citing our low rates of adult obesity and smoking. Around the same time, the New England Journal of Medicine reported that San Juan County is the worst in the nation when it comes to vaccinating children, with only 28 percent of kindergarteners and 11 percent of sixth graders meeting school vaccine requirements.
These numbers are troubling in light of Gov. Gregoire’s recent announcement of a statewide pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic. She projects we’re headed for 3000 cases this year, an alarming jump over the 965 reported in 2011.
Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection that usually starts with mild cold symptoms. For young children, it typically causes uncontrollable coughing spells, followed by gagging or vomiting and a “whoop” sound. Infants are most vulnerable for severe complications and death. Last year, 38 Washington infants were hospitalized with pertussis, and 2 died (including a baby in nearby Everett).
Our community is at risk. School immunization reports indicate just over half of San Juan County kindergartners were adequately immunized against pertussis for the 2010–2011 school year. A vaccine for adolescents and adults (Tdap – tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) is available, too, but vaccination rates for this group are even worse than those for young children. And that’s a worry for prevention efforts. Since the disease often is less severe for older youth and adults, they may unknowingly pass it on those around them.
Some people are susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases like pertussis because they decline immunizations. As a school nurse and former immunization nurse, I’ve answered parents’ doubts that diseases like polio and measles still exist (they do and in some places are on the rise); I’ve heard fears about a study linking measles vaccines and autism (the report was retracted, and the doctor involved lost his license); and I’m aware that some perceive school vaccine requirements as government intrusion.
Others, though, can’t receive this preventive care even if they wanted to. The vaccination isn’t given to babies under 2 months because their immature immune systems can’t respond. Older children and adults whose immune systems are weak because of illness or aging can’t be vaccinated, either.
Here’s where our helping spirit comes in. When enough of us get our vaccinations, we benefit even those who don’t. Such “community immunity” cuts the spread of diseases like pertussis to our vulnerable neighbors.
In response to the pertussis epidemic, San Juan County Health and Community Services has scheduled drop-in Tdap immunization clinics (Friday Harbor – May 29, 2-6 pm; Lopez – May 29, 1-6 pm; Orcas – May 31, 11-6pm). Now it’s time for us to do our part to achieve community immunity. Get immunized. It’s what we islanders do for each other.
“The New England Journal of Medicine reported that San Juan County is the worst in the nation when it comes to vaccinating children, with only 28 percent of kindergarteners and 11 percent of sixth graders meeting school vaccine requirements.”
Perhaps the people who live in these Islands are more intelligent about their own health and the health of their children that most. Whether this particular vaccine is morally worth the risk of taking it, I don’t know, but I do know that no truly educated, sane person would trust the Vaccine Industry after what they have perpetrated on the population of the US and the World. If you don’t understand why I’m writing this, look it up!
Here is a small piece of the pie:
https://www.wanttoknow.info/vaccinesnewsarticles
Be in Peace, Be Well.
Domenic
You are the kind of person, Domenic, who gives truth to the adage “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Try reading some scientific literature. Better yet, talk to some folks who contracted polio or measles about the value of vaccines.
No wonder we’re experiencing a whooping cough epidemic. This is what happens when people look to Jennie McCarthy for medical advice.
I don’t know when exactly this big fear of vaccines came into play, but growing up in a military family I had my fair share of shots covering most viruses and sicknesses and diseases out there. I didn’t get much more than measles and the chicken pox back in the days. But we’re a larger population now and each one of us has to take our surroundings into consideration and be truly educated to make a good decision. If it wasn’t that important I wouldn’t think the medical community would put such a great emphasis on immunizations. I’ll be in line for mine.