Michigan is ripe for a measles outbreak, as cases of the highly contagious disease climb across the U.S. and globally, and vaccination rates for recommended childhood immunizations have dropped to 66% among Michigan toddlers, state health officials say. It's a low not seen in Michigan in more than a decade
"We've seen this huge drop in children who are fully vaccinated, and unfortunately, it's just not coming back up to the levels that we were at before," said Dr. Aarti Raheja, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and a member of the Michigan Advisory Council for Immunizations. "That is concerning because it puts us at risk for these vaccine-preventable diseases, like we're seeing with measles."
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During the pandemic, Raheja said many children missed their annual exams and other checkups, which ordinarily is when they would be vaccinated.
"Our kids weren't being seen in clinic," Raheja said. "So they weren't getting opportunities to get vaccinated. Several children got behind with that and we just haven't been able to catch them up."
Falling short of needed herd immunity for measles
Michigan is one of only 15 states that allow for philosophical exemptions to mandated childhood vaccines, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All 50 U.S. states allow schoolchildren to be able to waive school-required vaccines for medical reasons.
Those medical reasons can include a true allergy to a vaccine component as well as having an immunological condition that might make them unable to take live, attenuated vaccines like those that protect against measles or chickenpox, Raheja said.
Children who have had organ transplants, those who have HIV or kids who are being treated for cancer or autoimmune diseases could be among those who cannot get a vaccine.
But, Raheja said, those cases are "extraordinarily rare."
For the vast majority of children, "these vaccines are safe and effective at protecting against many serious and life-threatening diseases," she said. "With how infectious it is, and with measles cases on the rise around the world, we say measles is just a plane ride away.
