Children vaccination rates ‘consistently downward’ in Iowa

With the number of children vaccinated in Iowa on a “consistently downward” trend, public health officials are concerned about vaccine preventable diseases spreading throughout Iowa communities.

Earlier this month, 58 schools in Iowa reported at least 10 percent of students were absent because of illness, according to data from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Four of these schools were in Linn County and two in Johnson County.

Most of these absences are related to influenza, said Dr. Melanie Wellington, a pediatric infections disease doctor at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital in Iowa City.

“Healthy kids in Iowa can get devastatingly sick from the flu,” said Wellington, questioning the quality of learning that can happen with so many students — and likely teachers and school staff — out sick.

And while influenza vaccines are available to everyone and are recommended each year, they aren’t required like other immunizations like the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella).

“Every child has the right to be healthy and not get sick from a vaccine-preventable disease,” said Elizabeth Faber, director of the Iowa Immunizes Coalition, which works to promote science-based vaccine policy and improve vaccine rates for all Iowans through education.

In Linn County, about 92 percent of children have received all their recommended immunizations. About 100 children are exempt from vaccines for medical reasons. Another 1,600 kids in Linn County have religious exceptions.

Johnson County has a similar rate of vaccination. About 50 children are exempt from vaccines for medical reasons. Another 400 kids in Linn County have religious exceptions.

While these vaccination rates are close to 95 percent — the percent of the population that must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity against diseases like measles, for example — fewer children in Iowa were vaccinated last year.

Less than 70 percent of 2-year-olds in Iowa completed the recommended vaccine series by 24 months of age in 2023. Completion rates have been decreasing since 2019 with all vaccines, with the largest percent decrease for mumps, measles and rubella.

For MMR kids should get the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age and the second dose at 4 to 6 years of age, according to the CDC.

The decrease is concerning as these highly contagious, vaccine preventable diseases can spread quickly in under and un-immunized communities. Increased infections of measles cases, for example, continue to be reported in the United States and worldwide, further stressing the need to ensure all children have received the recommended vaccines.

For children 13- to 15-years-old, 71.6 percent completed their vaccine series in 2023. Although this vaccine series completion has been steadily increasing since 2013, it’s important to continue to focus efforts to protect adolescents and communities against vaccine preventable diseases and outbreaks.

No major religious organizations prohibit vaccinations, Faber said.

“When you sign an exception for your child because of religious reasons, you are saying you are aware of the disease, how it could harm your child, and if there would be an outbreak that you would have to remove your child from child care or school and stay home with them,” Faber said.

Faber said a rise in religious exceptions might be because when the COVID-19 vaccine was released in late 2020, families grew concerned that it could be a federally mandated vaccine for school children. The vaccine, however, has not been mandated.

Faber said some of these families with religious exemptions are still getting vaccinated, so it may not indicate communities would see a rise in outbreaks of preventable diseases.

Heather Meador, Linn County Public Health clinical branch supervisor, said some families are using religious exemption for “philosophical” exemption, “which is not legal in Iowa,” she said.

Wellington said Iowans have a “long-standing history” of coming together as a community to take care of each other. Families need to take this same mindset when it comes to vaccination.

“The parent of the kid who sits next to your kid is making decisions that affect your kid. We need to pull together,” Wellington said.

Meador said the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to vaccination rates slowing down. It was hard for families to make appointments with their children’s doctor to get vaccinated, she said. That put children behind on the vaccine schedule.

Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine also has “seeped into other vaccines,” Meador said.

“What we’re seeing here in Iowa is what we’re seeing nationally,” Meador said. “We’ve become more and more polarized because of the pandemic, which is very disheartening.”

Meador wants to assure families that vaccines are safe and effective. It’s OK for families to have questions about the recommended vaccines for their child. They should seek information from their child’s pediatrician, not social media, she said.

“It’s confusing and overwhelming for parents. We want them to talk to their health care provider, who you talk to when your child is sick and who dedicated their life to keeping children as healthy and safe as possible,” Meador said.

Living in a “global society” where people are coming to and from Iowa from all over the world makes getting vaccinated even more vital.

“It’s very easy to import or export some of these infections,” Meador said.

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The seventh case of measles was linked to an outbreak at a Florida elementary school this week, according to the Florida Department of Health. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated from the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Measle cases also have been reported in Missouri and Minnesota.

“Measles is highly contagious. It is five to 10 times more contagious than COVID-19. With measles if someone is infected and they’re in a room, once they leave, that room still is contaminated for up to two hours. Anyone who walks into that space if they aren’t immune will most likely develop the infection,” Meador said.

Polio also was considered eliminated from the United States in 1994. However, in 2022 an unvaccinated man was left paralyzed after contracting polio, Meador said.

Because of vaccines, “we don’t see kids in iron lungs anymore because of polio or schools shut down because of measles,” Meador said.

Wellington said the United States is “sitting on a powder keg” with more individuals not receiving vaccines. Europe is “on fire” with measle cases as vaccination rates hit a 10-year low, she said.

With rampant misinformation being spread on social media, Wellington asks families to consider this: “The person you’re listening to on social media — do you think they care about your child’s health or the number of likes they have?”

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com