Oregon legislators are currently debating a bill that would end non-medical vaccine exemptions and require children to be up to date on all required vaccinations in order to attend public school. The Pacific Northwest is in the middle of a measles outbreak and I fear that my home state (go Utes!) is next.
Utah is one of 12 states that have seen a rise in the number of “philosophical-belief” non-medical vaccine exemptions during the last 10 years.
During my first year of medical school, a vital part of our curriculum was a course on immunology; how the body fights off infection and how deadly diseases can be prevented with safe and efficient vaccines. These diseases are only preventable if a majority of the community is vaccinated against them.
Well-intentioned, yet misinformed, parents are putting their children’s lives at risk when they delay or decline recommended vaccinations. They are also endangering other children who have true medical exemptions to vaccines.
We all want to lower the cost of health care. A 2011 study looked at the financial burden placed on local health departments after a measles outbreak. It found that 107 confirmed cases were reported, which resulted in costs of more than $2.7 million. That’s $25,233 per case, the cost of avoiding a vaccine that your insurance company would have gladly picked up the tab for.
In 2017, Oregon saw its first case of pediatric tetanus in more than 30 years after an unvaccinated child contracted the bacteria Clostridium tetani from a cut while playing on a farm. This case resulted in a two-month hospital stay for the boy and a hospital bill of over $1 million (Guzman-Cottrill, 2019).
The most shocking part of this story was that even after the parents saw their child suffer from the devastating effects of tetanus (think jaw clenching and muscle spasms so strong your back and neck arch backwards) they refused to vaccinate him. We talk about driving down the cost of health care, if we continue to allow non-medical philosophical-belief exemptions to vaccines, the cost of health care will surely rise. Not only will the cost of health care rise but we will lose the lives of innocent children, who had no say in whether they wanted to suffer from these preventable illnesses or not.
I would urge those who have concerns about vaccines to talk with their pediatrician or family doctor. These medical professionals are educated, caring and want what’s best for your child. Approach them with your questions and concerns and I know they will take time out of their busy schedules to help.
I would also urge Utah legislators to consider a similar bill to Oregon’s HB3063 before we are faced with a deadly outbreak of our own that could have been completely preventable.
Bobby Cannon was raised in Salt Lake City, graduated from Southern Utah University with a degree in biology and is working toward his medical degree at Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest, Lebanon, Ore.