Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ariel Brewer Louis, of Woodstock, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and studied the neural basis of drug addiction in Paris, France, before stepping away from the field in order to raise her three children full time. She is currently a board certified lactation consultant.
[I] am writing in response to a letter from the Vermont Department of Health and the Agency of Education requesting compliance with Vermont’s immunization laws and regulations, which was sent to all Vermont superintendents, principals and independent school headmasters.
As a parent who has been educated in the sciences, I’ve always looked to the primary source of information rather than one’s interpretation of it since the two can often be incongruent. I am concerned that the Department of Health is not portraying an accurate picture of vaccination and certain disease trends in Vermont.
As a parent of young children, heavy pharmaceutical company presence in our Statehouse is alarming.
For example, the letter refers to the legislative decision in 2015 to remove the philosophical vaccine exemption, leaving religious and medical exemptions as the only way to opt out of one or more vaccines required for school attendance. They state that this was done “In response to an increased number of students who have not received immunizations necessary for school enrollment,” however a look at the department’s own data available on their website reveals that vaccination coverage was actually increasing at this time. Total vaccine coverage for children entering kindergarten in 2013-14 was 85.8 percent and in 2014-15 it increased to 87.7 percent, the same year they claimed a decrease and removed the philosophical exemption. This year’s rates are at an all-time high of 89.6 percent, a steep increase from 2008-09 of 81.1 percent. Why were we not given accurate information regarding vaccination rates, especially when this false information led to the removal of parental choice? Michelle M. Mello, J.D., Ph.D., states in the American Journal of Public Health (2012) that there is heavy pharmaceutical lobbying in the legislature in many states and “Just about every vaccine mandate that we have lately has been the result, at least partially, of the drug industry’s efforts.” As a parent of young children, heavy pharmaceutical company presence in our Statehouse is alarming.
Additionally, the letter refers to an increase in pertussis circulation in recent years, which, according to the Vermont Department of Health, further underscores the importance of increased vaccination coverage. However, many recent scientific studies show that outbreaks of pertussis are occurring in fully vaccinated children. One study (Journal of Pediatrics, 2015) states that “Increased cases of culture-positive hospitalized pertussis were limited to fully immunized children.” Another performed by Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center (Pediatrics, 2015) states “Routine Tdap (of which acellular pertussis is a component) did not prevent pertussis outbreaks” and that “little protection remained 2-3 years after vaccination.” Even the CDC admits on their website that “we can’t rely on herd immunity to protect people from pertussis,” since vaccinated individuals can become colonized with and transmit pertussis while being asymptomatic. Our Department of Health fails to recognize the combination of waning vaccine efficacy and the inability of the vaccine to prevent transmission as primary factors in current pertussis outbreaks, and instead continues to perpetuate the idea that falling vaccine rates are to blame.
In this age of vigilance regarding publicly available information, shouldn’t parents expect that what is provided by our Department of Health be accurate and up-to-date?
/
