Vaccine trends we can’t ignore

Maybe you’ve heard whooping cough cases are rising in Iowa and across the country.

The Des Moines Register’s Michaela Ramm reports 72 cases have been confirmed in Iowa this year, the most since 2019. The highly contagious disease is especially dangerous for babies and young children. Whooping cough is one of the diseases included in a series of immunizations recommended for kids by the age of 2, along with Measles and rubella (MMR), Tetanus, diphtheria, Polio (IPV), Varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis B.

The overall number of Iowa kids receiving the series by age 2 has dropped each year in Iowa for four years, 2019-2023, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Among the individual vaccines, the shot for pertussis, or whooping cough, saw the lowest completion rate.

The percentage of Iowa 2-year-olds who have received the full series of shots was 69.7% in 2023, down from 73.6 in 2019.

Now, it would be wrong to catastrophize these numbers. The department reports that 98.9% of students in Iowa schools in 2023 had a certificate of vaccination, which is required by law. In licensed day cares, 93.2% had certificates.

Another 30,178 school students were “un-immunized,” including students who sought legally permitted religious or medical exemptions. But the small number of under and un-immunized kids is rising. From 4.4% in 2020 to 5.8% in 2023.

So, it would also be wrong to ignore these trends. Several studies and experts have pointed to a series of reasons.

During the pandemic, healthy child visits to the doctor plummeted. If you don’t see the doctor, you might not have an advocate urging immunizations.

The lack of professional guidance left some people vulnerable to the misinformation running rampant during the pandemic regarding vaccinations, masking and other public health measures.

That helped feed political polarization, with conservatives balking at being vaccinated for COVID. Conspiracy theories saturated social media.

Republican state leaders pandered to anti-vaxxers who saw public health protections as a totalitarian takeover. They treated them like heroes of freedom.

But it’s a selfish brand of freedom that encourages ignoring steps that could save the lives of others. What about the freedom of kids with medical conditions who can’t be vaccinated and others vulnerable to severe illness?

In 2019, according to Pew Research, 79% of Republicans supported childhood vaccine requirements. In 2023, support dropped to 57%.

Also, very few of us lived through the horrors when vaccines didn’t exist. So no big deal, right?

All we can hope is the Golden Dome of Wisdom won’t make things worse. Bills have been considered that would remove childhood vaccine mandates. They haven’t moved far, but Republicans did approve a law barring any childhood mandate for COVID vaccinations. Republicans nearly passed a bill requiring schools to do more to inform parents about vaccine exemptions.

If our immunization efforts were a car, whooping cough is a check engine light. We can ignore it, and deal with consequences, or we can act like reasonable adults and fix it.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com