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December 23, 2002
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Pertussis Rates Soar as Parents Refuse Vaccine"
Infectious Diseases in Children (www.idinchildren.com) (11/02) Vol. 15, No. 11, P. 12; Bechtel, Bryan
Health officials in Boulder, Colo., report that parents in the area are so averse to providing the pertussis vaccine to their children that there is an ongoing outbreak of the disease at levels far above the state average. The Boulder Valley School District says that 7.3 percent of parents would not vaccinate their children in 2001, with exemptions covering religious, philosophical, and medical concerns. Ned Colange, the Colorado Department of Health's acting chief, said that the relatively liberal leanings of the Boulder area, including its history as a hippie haven, have led to a greater number of citizens who oppose vaccinations. Parents in and around Boulder appear to believe that contracting diseases is advantageous over receiving vaccines for many illnesses, though pertussis is by far the most common. About 81 cases of pertussis turned up each year between 1997 and 2001, almost nine times the state average of 9.4 cases per year and about three times the national average. Albert Mehl, physician-in-charge for Kaiser Permanente in Colorado, believes that the actual rate of pertussis infection is much higher, because tests are usually performed on only the sickest individuals, which suggests that there are older children and adults infected with the disease who are never diagnosed. Pediatricians say that the hardest part about urging parents to obtain vaccinations for their children is to convince them that pertussis is a serious disease. Mehl notes that most parents have never experienced or seen pertussis or any of the other illnesses for which there are now vaccines, so they are unaware of the diseases' severity.
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