GILROY—California’s recent bout with measles, which hit home when an infected person shopped at Costco and Walmart in January, has been traced to an outbreak at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, according to the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health.
Researchers explicitly linked the measles strain in the Anaheim outbreak with the one found in the blood of the Gilroy shopper, the county’s health information officer told the Dispatch.
At least two other strains of measles have been identified in 170 cases nationwide, leading some health experts to call for more vaccinations of children and adults, while at least one state lawmaker wants to outlaw personal belief exemptions.
At the same time, a resistance is growing to vaccinations in some communities.
In a study published in the JAMA for American Pediatrics this week, researchers pointed to “substandard vaccination compliance” as a cause for the outbreak in California first identified in December 2014.
That, coupled with the disease’s highly contagious nature, was a springboard for measles’ rapid spread across the United States. To preserve the population’s immunity and prevent future outbreaks, the study’s authors advocated for overall vaccination rates upwards of 96 percent.
Gilroy has already met the mark, and its residents are more likely to vaccinate compared to Morgan Hill and the rest of the state, a review of state health department data shows.
Nearly 97 percent of children in Gilroy’s schools where immunization is monitored—early-stage child care, public and private preschools, kindergartens and elementary schools—are current on shots for diseases such as measles, Hepatitis B and polio for this school year, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
On average, two percent of students went unvaccinated because parents claimed a personal belief exemption—one of two ways to avoid otherwise mandatory vaccination laws.
“If you have a vaccinated community, you will have healthier people,” said Molly Carbajal, a public health specialist with the county health department. “Gilroy is doing really well and this data shows parents care about the overall health of the community.”
Gilroy’s average immunization rate of 97 percent exceeds the state’s average figure of 90 percent compliance with vaccines required for preschool and kindergarten.
In Morgan Hill, fewer children on average are current on shots, compared to Gilroy and the state, and more parents on average file personal belief exemptions (PBEs), a Dispatch review of state data found.
About 84 percent of all preschoolers, kindergarteners and elementary-aged children in Morgan Hill were current on vaccinations for this school year, while three percent claimed the PBE, the data showed.
PBE rates are higher in Morgan Hill than in Gilroy, in some cases significantly higher.
In one example, nearly 39 percent of preschoolers at the Morgan Hill Parent-Child Nursery School—just over 10 out of 28 enrolled—claimed the PBE.
In contrast, the Gilroy school with the highest PBE rate was the Pacific West Christian Academy, where 6.7 percent of children, two out of 38, declined immunizations.
Despite some regional differences among Santa Clara County cities, the county overall fares far better than the rest of the state.
Marin County, Carbajal pointed out, has struggled with low vaccination rates despite higher socioeconomic status—nearly six percent of kids go unvaccinated, state figures show. Resistance to vaccinations is typically more pronounced in areas with higher socioeconomic status, Carbajal said.
“We don’t understand why…but some of the most educated people are not listening to science that says vaccines are good for you. We’re just happy (county) residents are listening to the advice of their doctors and getting their kids vaccinated,” Carbajal said.
In a nod to vaccine-hesitant parents, the county’s top health officer urged parents who previously declined or delayed getting the measles vaccine to reconsider.
“The vaccine is safe and very effective in preventing the spread of measles,” wrote Dr. Sara Cody on the county public health department’s website.
A 1998 study that drew a connection between autism and the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella was later discredited, Cody said, but that hasn’t stopped the so-called study from discouraging people from getting shots for preventable disease out of fear vaccines may cause health problems over time.
“An investigation found that the researchers had fabricated the evidence,” she added. “Many subsequent studies involving hundreds of thousands of children have not found a link between any vaccine and the development of autism.”
Bill seeks to eliminate exemption
While public health proponents espouse the benefits of vaccination and others argue against vaccines saying their side effects should be more thoroughly studied, some lawmakers want to eliminate the personal belief exemption altogether.
Under state law, the only way for parents to avoid vaccinations for their children is to have a doctor to sign off on a medical exemption or fill out a personal belief exemption.
Senate Bill 277, authored by California Senator and pediatrician Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, would eliminate parental choice in the matter.
The bill is scheduled for a hearing in Sacramento on April 8. If it passes, only children who have been immunized from diseases like measles and whooping cough will be admitted to California schools—public or private.
“It is our duty and responsibility to protect all children who attend schools in California,” Pan said in a statement. “SB 277 was introduced because parents are speaking up and letting us know that current laws are not enough to protect their children.”
Vaccination numbers, Gilroy and Morgan Hill
• Nearly 97 percent of monitored children in Gilroy’s schools are current on shots.
• Roughly 84 percent of Morgan Hill children are up to date on shots.
• Less than two percent of Gilroy children and more than three percent in Morgan Hill opted out of immunizations for personal belief reasons.
Santa Clara County and California
• 90.7 percent of monitored children in the county were up-to-date on vaccinations, while 1.6 percent filed personal belief exemptions.
• On average, California hovers at 90 percent vaccination compliance and has a personal belief exemption rate of 2.6 percent.
Which schools have the highest number of personal belief exemptions?
• At 6.7 percent, SVCC Pacific West Christian Academy in Gilroy had the highest number of personal belief exemptions this school year.
• In Morgan Hill, 39.3 percent of the students at the Morgan Hill Parent-Child Nursery School, just over 10 of 28 enrolled, had parents cite personal beliefs as a reason not to vaccinate.
Source: California Department of Public Health
