Infanti vaccinations take a stable blow in Oregon

Eugene, Ore. – In Oregon, most parents immunize their school children to meet the requirements of the school according to the data from the centers for Disease Control, but Oregon Health Authority says that these vaccination rates have taken a big blow since 2020.

But this decline started even earlier at a slower rate before the pandemic.

“The number of children in kindergarten, where we measure this, who demand exemptions from one or more of the requirements of the vaccine, has constantly increased since about 2000,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director of transmitted disease immunizations , Oha. “We have had our highest level of the last school year which is 23-24 years. Up to 8.8% of children’s gardens choosing an exemption to one or more of the required vaccines.”

Fourteen different vaccines built to combat diseases such as A&B hepatitis, darling, measles and mumps are recommended for children, and many should be received when a child is 24 months old – like poliovirus.

“Some of these diseases are really there. We have had our biggest dubbing year, it’s darling since 1950. Last year, we had our greatest measles epidemic since the early 1990s , and this occurred exclusively among non -vaccinated people; we had 31 cases, “said Dr Cieslak.

If a person’s immune system does not work properly, Dr Cieslak says, they may not have a good answer to a vaccine because many are weakened strains live from a real virus.

He quotes the fatigue of vaccines as well as some obtaining medical advice on the Internet in the context of what feeds fears of vaccines.

But psychological factors could also be at stake.

“We think of the probability that a vaccine can work or the probability that a child has a side effect of a vaccine, but we also feel our way through these situations. And our emotional responses to vaccines can really make a big difference “,” said Ellen Peters, director of the Center for Science Communication Research, University of Oregon. , simply reading these stories can really make people more afraid of vaccinations. “

Meg Olson, Oregon Director Families for Vaccines, an initiative led by the State at the level of the State supporting infant vaccinations, says that her son was six years old when a measles epidemic took place in 2019 .

As a mom for the first time, she was worried about her health because it was not too young to have a measle vaccine.

“I think there is a lot of disinformation on what could be a part of the impact or defective studies, but we all want to do what is best for our children, and it can be really confusing to browse this Disinformation.

While a new administration is settling in the White House, Olson says that Ofv does not know what it will mean for access to vaccines.

“Our immediate concern concerns some of our federal programs that allow families to access vaccines. Some of these programs could face serious threats. Some of them could disappear entirely,” she said.

Parents of children in Oregon can claim an exemption from school vaccinations for medical or non -medical reasons.

Oha says that the day of exclusion from the school is on February 19, it is the third week of February of each year when students without vaccinations required for the school or this exemption are excluded from the school.