Schools across Illinois appear to be improving their measles vaccine rates, according to a Tribune analysis of Illinois State Board of Education data.
Measles cases in Illinois are rising, now nine according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. But a greater percentage of schools are reaching the threshold of 90 to 95 percent MMR vaccination rate among students. That rate of vaccination is required to achieve herd immunity, health officials say, and protects those who are either too young or too ill to get vaccines.
All but 2.8 percent of Illinois schools met the 90 percent threshold in 2013-14 — an improvement over the 2008-09 school year, when 5.1 percent of schools had less than 90 percent of students immunized for measles, according to the analysis of nearly 4,900 schools, ranging from small private institutions to large suburban high schools.
When the rate hit 95 percent, the news also was encouraging. In 2008-09, 11.5 percent of schools fell below the 95 percent threshold, but during the 2013-14 school year, students at all but 9.2 percent of schools fell below that threshold, the Tribune found.
“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in humans,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases. “Delaying vaccination leaves children vulnerable to measles when it is most dangerous to their development and also affects the entire community.”
At first, measles symptoms can appear to be benign — like a case of the sniffles — runny nose, cough, fever, followed by the trademark rash. But as many as 1 in 20 children with measles will develop pneumonia and 1 in 1,000 will get encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that can lead to convulsions and brain damage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Parents of unvaccinated children should “avoid anywhere that a child is sick,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin, a senior medical health officer with the Cook County Department of Health, last week. If you are bringing your child to an emergency room or doctor’s office, parents should call ahead so providers can take necessary precautions, she said.
Parents started fearing the vaccine shots after a 1998 study, published in a prestigious British medical journal, which purported to show a connection between the MMR and autism. The findings were debunked, but the anti-vaccine movement was born.
“I have never paid attention to this before,” said Judy Sitrick, pushing her 18-month-old son at the Wal-Mart in Country Club Hills. “I would definitely ask about this before I enroll him in any pre-school. I just assumed everybody does the right thing.”
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