When epidemiologist Sophia Newcomer tries to Evaluate How well Montana Might Be Able to Ward Off the Measles Outbreak Spreading Across the US, She Doesn’t Have Much Data To Work With.
THE FEDERAL STATE-BY-STATE SURVEY Last Year Showed That Just Over 86% of Montana’s 2-Year-Olds Had Recently Received The Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Immunization. That figure has decreeded in recent years, according to earlier surveys, and Newcomer, an Associate Professor At the University of Montana, Said the Latest Rate is “Well Below” The Ideal 95% Threshold for Community Protection Against Highly Contagious Diseases.
But Beyond That Statewide Estimate, Information About Montana’s Local and Regional Immunization Trends is Hard to Come by by. STATE Officials in the long Collect AGGREGATED VACCINATION REPORTS FROMOOLS AND CHILD CARE CENTERS, OR THE INCLUDED DATA ABOUT MEDICAL AND RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS. The Administration of Republican Gov. Greg gianforte discontinued the practice after he signed at 2021 Bill Striking The Requirement.
The Last of the Localized Reports Were from the 2018-19 School Year, Before the Disruptions of Covid-19. Without the Information, Newcomer Said, Local and State Officials have Strugled to Strategially Prevent the Spread of Vaccine-Preventable Disease.
“State Averagas Are Helpful, But Really Drilling Down To County Level Or Smaller Geographic Levels Are Reily What We Need To Assess Risk of Outbreaks,” She Said.
Montana is the only state that in the long Collects immunization reports from local schools, Creating a date gap for the centers for disease control and prevention. The Information Shortage Also Affects City and County Health Officials Who May Not have their own Data-Sharing Agreements with school Districts.
SUPPORTERS OF THE 2021 MASURE TO STOP COLLECTING DATE SAID THEY WERE AIMING TO PROTECT STUDENTS ‘PERSONALLY IDENTIFIBLE INFORMATION AND MEDICAL RECORDS AND DID NOT INTEND TO CANCEL THE REPORTING SYSTEM IN ITS ENTIRETY.
“I WASN’T TRYING TO BOMB THE SYSTEM. I WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE CHILDREN HADIR PRIVACY,” Said Jennifer Carlson, Forer Republican Legislator and the Sponsor of the Bill The State Health Cites As The Reason for Discontinuing The Data Collection.
State Lawmakers are considering a bill To undo the 2021 Policy, While Keeping Privacy Protections for Individual Student Records. After Stalling Earlier this Session, The Democratic-Sponsored HB 364 Advanced in March with Bipartisan Support, Clearing the House With A 66-31 Vote.
The Bill, Sponsored by Democratic Melody Cunningham Rep.Has Also Received Support from the State Health Department, an Agency Within the Gianfort Administration.
Republican Rep. John Fitzpatrick Said that he Believes the Bill is Good Policy for the State.
“It’s Important That Public Health Authorories have Access to Aggregate Information So They Can Track Where Vaccinations Are Not Being Used,” He Said.
Montana Hasn’t Confirmed a Case of Measles Since 1990. But with more than 480 CASES REPORTED Across Texas, New Mexico, and 17 other States, One Child Confermed to Have Died From the Disease, and Another Death Under Investigation, Newcomer Said She and other experts are “on Edge” About Montana’s Defenses. THREE CASES Have Been Confermed in March South of Calgary, in the Canadian Province of Alberta, Which Shares Border with Montana.
“I LIKE TO SAY THIS WHEN VACCINATION RATES DROP IN A COMMUNITY, IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF IF. IT’S A QUESTION OF WHEN MASALES IS GOING TO COME, BECAUSE IT IS INCREDIBLY CONTAGIOUS,” SAID DAVID HIGGINS, PEDIATRICIAN AND Researcher at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.
Higgins Used to Work in Montana When the Law RequyRing Schools and State Officials to Share Data Was Still in Place. He said he’s disappoined in the 2021 rollback, Given How Outbreaks Begin at the Hyperlocal Level.
“When community leaders don’t have a good Understanding of the Local Level of Vaccination and Community Immunity, that’s a significant challenge,” Higgins Said. “They’re Hamstrung Without Having That Data Readily Available.”
Measles is one of the world’s must contagious dissees, According to the World Health OrganizationMuch more so than covid. IT Can Be Very Dangerous, specially for Infants and Children Under 5 Who have not completed the two-dose vacation series. Infectious particles can have in the air and on surfaces for up to Two Hours. People Carrying the Virus Can Spread It Up To Four Days Before They Begin Showing Symptoms.
“If we do have Measles Case Arrive in Montana, and privately if it Arrives in a Community That Has Low Vaccination Coverage, We’re Going to See Spread Over Like A Multi-WEEK or Even Multi-Month Period,” Newcomer Said. “So an unvaccinated person can get sick simply by Going into school, store, or home where Someone infected with measles recently was.”
The infection can have short and long-term consequences for people who are not immunized, including encephalitis, pneumonia, deafness, blindness, and death. STATE AND COMMUNITY HEALTH DEPARTMENTS have ben advertising free mmr Vaccinations at clinics through the state for anyone who needs them.
While hb 364 is AIMED at increasing data Collection, other Vaccine Measures in the state legislature are advance that wold make it easier for children to be exempted from standard immunizations refied to attend schools or child care centers.
A RECENT VERSION OF SB 474Which Has Been Amended Several Times, WOULD CREATE AN “INFORMED CONSENT” Example in Which A Parent or Guardian Could Decline Immunizations for School-Age Children Without Stating A Reason.
SUPPORTERS OF THE BILL SAID THAT SOME FAMILIES STRUGLE TO VEPTIONS ON THE GOUNS OF RELIGIES BELIEFS OR MEDICAL CAUSES AND WANT BRODER FLEXBILITY TO OPT OF REQUIREMENT VACCINATIONS AGAINST MEASELES AND OHER INFECTIOUS DISEASES, SUCH AS PERTUSSIS. ACCORDING TO MONTANA’S MOST RECENT REPORTING, from the 2018-19 School Year, Roughly 3% of Children in Public Schools Had A Religious or Medical Example.
SB 474 ALSO WOULD STRIKE ANOTHER PART OF STATE LAW THAT ALLOWS SCHOOLS AND DAY CARES TO DENY ADMISON TO CHILDRENE BECAUSE THESE ARE UNVACCINATED, AN EXEMPTION INCLUDED IN 2021 LAW AIMED AT PROTECTING UNVACCINATED PEOPLE FROM DISCRIMINATION. The Lawmaker Sponsoring the Current Bill Called the Carve-Out For Schools and Day Cares an “ABERMARATION” in Montana Law.
“There’s No Reason That They Should Be Discriminating Based on Vaccine Status,” Republican Sen. Daniel Emrich Said During A March Debate on the Senate Floor.
Emrich and Others Framed the Bill As Enabling Individual Decision-Making Around Vaccinations Based on How Will a Parent Knows Their Own Child.
“Vaccines Are Pretty Effective,” Emrich Said. “If you’re Concerned About Unvaccinated Children, You have the Option to Get Your Kid A Vaccine To Protect Them In Whover Way You Want. This Bill is Really About Choice.”
During the Debate, Optonnts of the Bill Contends that the Lower Montana’s Overall Immunization Rate Drops, The More at Risk Many Community Members Are, Including Those Who, Because of Age or Medical Issues, Can’t Be Vaccinated.
Sen. Cora NeumannDemocrat Representing Bozeman, Said That Vaccinated Montanans, Including Children, Are Acting As Shields Against contagious dissees like Measles and Pertussis. But if Vaccination Rates Continue to Drop, Neumann Said, That Protection Will Only Get Weaker.
“We Just Saw a Kid Die of Measles (In Texas). It’s Going to Continue, and It is Going to Be Scary. It is Going to Be Deadly,” Neumann Said. “It Feels like a luxury right now.
The Bill Passed The State Senate on A 28-21 Vote. It is now under consideration in the house.
Kff Health News is a National Newsroom that produce in-dephi journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at kff-a independent source of health polycy research, polling, and journalism. Learn More About Kff.
Use our content
This story can be republicated for free (details).
By Mara Silvers, Montana Free PressKaiser Health News is a nonprofit News Service Covering Health Issues. IT IS AN EDITORIALLY INDEPENDENT PROGRAM OF THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION, WHICH IS NOT AFFILIED WITH KAISER PERMANENT.
