Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 21 May 2019
'Hippie' island off Seattle sees shift in low vaccine rate

By SALLY HO gressively remind families
Associated Press when they're due for vac-
VASHON ISLAND, Wash. cines and counsel them
(AP) — Sarah Day is a on their concerns, wheth-
school nurse with "street er rooted in scientific evi-
cred" when it comes to the dence or not.
polarizing issue of vaccines "The message is really get-
on an idyllic island in Wash- ting through. I feel like the
ington state known for its tide is really turning on the
rural beauty, countercul- island," Day said.
ture lifestyle and low immu- A two-year-old health cen-
nization rates. ter at the high school has
Since she began commu- been especially success-
nal living on Vashon Island ful. It's partly funded by a
more than 20 years ago, county grant that helps
the registered nurse has cover free shots and servic-
advocated for getting kids es for low-income or unin-
their shots against a loud sured students. About half
contingent of anti-vaccine of the school system's 1,615
parents in the close-knit students are registered pa-
community of about 11,000 tients and an additional 43
accessible only by ferry, a children who are in private
serene 20-minute ride from school or homeschooled
Seattle. also use the clinic.
And it may now be work- Manager Stephanie Keller
ing, thanks to a "perfect said the center has re-
storm" of changes being ceived a spike in calls from
felt on the island, Day said. concerned parents amid
The Vashon Island School a measles outbreak in
District has seen a signifi- Washington state that's af-
cant increase in fully immu- fected at least 78 people,
nized children. The number In this photo taken Wednesday, May 15, 2019, Dr. Jessica Wesch, MD, family medicine physi- including seven reported
of kindergartners who re- cian and the site medical director for Neighborcare Health at Vashon, displays an immunization near Vashon. As of May
ceived the required set of schedule that she uses to show parents, on Vashon Island. 17, 880 people have con-
state-mandated vaccines Associated Press tracted measles in 24 states
jumped by 31% in the past this year, according to the
six years, from 56% to nearly chemicals in their bod- health officials. They may they did benefits human- Centers for Disease Control.
74% in the 2017-18 school ies, whether in their food select some but not all and kind. Yeah, they got their The outbreak prompted
year, according to the King or medical care. Kids run space them out over a lon- ice cream for it, but they're Washington Gov. Jay In-
County Public Health De- barefoot through untamed ger period of time. also eradicating polio," slee to declare a state of
partment. forests and families still raise Nicky Wilks, who grew up Lanphear said. emergency and sign a law
Amid the nation's highest fruits and vegetables with- on Vashon and has three The number of philosophi- that eliminates personal or
number of measles cases in out pesticides to share in young children, said the cal exemptions in Vashon philosophical exemptions
25 years, pro-vaccine ad- meals in communal houses. changing attitude has led has decreased dramati- for the measles, mumps
vocates are cheering the It also has its share of city some pro-vaccine parents cally, but there are still 11.6 and rubella vaccine that's
apparent shift that chal- commuters, tourists and to exclude from gather- percent of students whose needed before attend-
lenges Vashon's reputation million-dollar vacation ings kids who may not have families elect not to vac- ing a day care center or
as a hotbed of highly edu- homes with sweeping views their shots, while teenagers cinate. That's five times school. Parents, however,
cated, anti-establishment of Mount Rainier, as well as openly mock those who higher than the national can still claim a medical or
parents who choose not locals pushing the science aren't vaccinated. median rate. religious exemption.
to vaccinate their children that vaccines are safe. "That's the worst-case sce- Still, Vashon's progress can't Some critics say the Vashon
from preventable and po- While the gains are no- nario, when we are creat- be discounted because it's school system's data isn't
tentially devastating dis- table, the Vashon school ing physical barriers in our unusual for immunization to representative of the pop-
eases. district still has one of the community," Wilks said. increase so steeply in a few ulation because the island
"We've been the poster lowest vaccine rates in the He said he isn't against all short years when there is is home to many families
children for the anti-vac- U.S. It is far below the 95 vaccines but doesn't agree deep-rooted anti-vaccine who live off the grid. Vac-
cine or vaccine-hesitancy percent target that a ma- that dozens of shots start- sentiment in the communi- cine advocates argue it's
movement for so long," jority of U.S. schools hover ing at birth are necessary ty, said William John Moss, an important benchmark
Day said. around and is needed for despite health officials' in- an epidemiology professor because numbers from a
She attributes the rising herd immunity, which pro- sistence. Wilks declined to at Johns Hopkins University. previous islandwide survey
numbers to increasingly vis- tects those who haven't say if his family is fully immu- "That's an important in- aligned with public school
ible pro-vaccine informa- been vaccinated for medi- nized. crease, but they still have data.
tion, expanded access to cal reasons or because Gator Lanphear says he's a ways to go," Moss said. And there are other signs,
shots and media coverage they are too young. "very judgmental" about "That's a vaccination rate too. The top service pro-
of measles outbreaks in the The majority of Vashon par- parents who don't vacci- lower than in many coun- vided at the student-based
Pacific Northwest and New ents say yes to some vac- nate. He said he not only tries in sub-Saharan Africa." health center is vaccina-
York this year. cines, particularly the teta- immunizes his twin 6-year- Day, the school nurse, has tions, Keller said.
The island town with deep nus shot for their kids who old daughters but instills in worked closely with the "That surprised us,"
roots in organic farming has play outside on the for- them the importance of new Neighborcare Health Keller said. "You think of
long drawn those who want ested island. But many still getting their shots as a he- clinics, the single largest Vashon as being this hip-
to escape urban sprawl buck the formal schedule roic act. medical provider on the pie place where nobody
and others wary of putting of shots recommended by "They understand that what island. Together, they ag- vaccinates."q