Wisconsin kindergartners are behind the rest of the country in getting vaccines for measles, other preventable diseases
Wisconsin kindergartners have one of the lowest rates of vaccination in the country against the highly contagious disease measles, partly driven by a rise in kindergartners getting exemptions from state vaccine requirements, according to new data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last school year, about 86.5% of Wisconsin kindergartners had been fully vaccinated against measles, a preventable disease that is highly contagious and can cause severe illness in young children, according to a CDC report released last week. The measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is one of several state-required vaccines that children must receive in order to attend school.
That's compared to an estimated 93% of kindergartners in the rest of the country who had been vaccinated against measles, according to the data. Only three states reported a lower vaccination rate than Wisconsin for the disease: Alaska, Hawaii and Idaho.
Wisconsin also had among the lowest vaccination rates for other required vaccines, which protect against such diseases as chickenpox, polio and whooping cough.
"It's very concerning," said Dr. James Conway, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and medical director of UW Health's immunization program. "This is mostly a call to action that we need to do better."
Wisconsin has among the highest vaccine exemption rates for kindergartners
Nationally, exemptions reached the highest level ever reported, with an estimated 3% of kindergartners nationwide exempt from having to receive a required vaccine, the CDC report says.
In every state, children can be exempt from having to get a vaccine if they have a valid medical reason. Most states also allow children to seek an exemption for religious reasons. Some states, including Wisconsin, also allow exemptions based on philosophical reasons or personal convictions.
Wisconsin was among 10 states where more than 5% of kindergartners had a vaccine exemption. About 7.2% of Wisconsin kindergartners reportedly had an exemption for at least one state-required vaccine. Only four other states reportedly had higher exemption rates than Wisconsin: Arizona (7.4%), Utah (8.1%), Oregon (8.2%) and Idaho (12.1%).
Wisconsin's Department of Health Services publicly reports overall vaccination and exemption rates for school children, along with rates by school and school district. But the data from the CDC show vaccination and exemption rates specifically for kindergartners, not all school children, and allow for comparisons to the national average or between states. The data also show uptake rates for each, individual vaccine.
The CDC data come from reports that 49 states and the District of Columbia made to the federal agency for the 2022-23 school year. Montana is the only state that did not report kindergarten vaccination rates. The data show the estimated number of public- and private-school kindergartners who met, were exempt from or were in the process of meeting vaccine requirements last school year.
The comparisons between states are not perfect because some states may have used different data collection methods or assessed students' vaccination status at different times. Most states submitted data on all or nearly all kindergartners, but a dozen states, including Montana, submitted data on less than 90% of kindergartners.
Childhood immunizations rates declining nationally
But the overall trend is clear — that nationally, childhood immunization rates are declining.
Public health experts worry if measles vaccination rates, in particular, continue to trend downward, it might lead to a resurgence of the disease similar to that seen in 2019, when global cases spiked and the United States nearly lost its status as having eliminated measles, a designation for countries where the disease is no longer constantly present. In that year, the U.S. reported nearly 1,300 cases of measles, the most since 1992, according to the CDC.
"We've become an increasingly vulnerable country with these immunization rates gradually drifting down," Conway said.
The 2019 measles outbreaks in the U.S. were all linked to travel-related cases that reached communities with low vaccination rates against measles, according to the CDC.
"All it takes is one person (who is infected) getting on a plane and showing up in the wrong community," Conway said.
Public health officials seek routine vaccinations for children
Childhood immunization rates have been down nationwide. While vaccine skepticism has something to do with it, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruptions of access to health care also have played a role, Conway said. Some children who missed routine check-ups during the pandemic may have fallen behind on their routine vaccines and never caught up.
"Some of this is systems issues and a need to really reach out to people and make it easier to get them vaccinated," Conway said.
Misinformation about routine vaccines and the politicization of the pandemic response and COVID-19 vaccines also may be fueling parental skepticism of vaccines more broadly.
Stephanie Schauer, the Wisconsin health department's immunization program manager, acknowledged that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in routine vaccinations for many children. She encouraged parents to talk to their child's doctor about any questions or concerns they may have about vaccines and to make sure their children are up-to-date.
Conway urged health workers to implement proactive strategies, such as "reminder and recall" systems where parents receive a phone call, postcard, letter or text reminding them that their child's vaccinations are due or late, often with an educational message. Those strategies have been shown to improve child vaccination rates and can be tailored to individual families and communities.
One such strategy was the subject of a study in St. Louis, Missouri. Two clinics offered personalized calendars to families with their baby's picture, monthly birthday messages and reminders of the baby's next appointment for vaccines. The family would receive only the months leading up to their baby's next vaccination appointment and would receive subsequent months of the calendar only by returning when the next scheduled vaccination was due. The study found higher up-to-date vaccination rates among babies whose parents were given a calendar versus those who weren't.
The City of Milwaukee Health Department offers routine childhood vaccines at walk-in clinics it holds at its health centers four days per week.
The clinic is open 3-6 p.m. on Mondays and 1-4 p.m. on Tuesdays at Southside Health Center, 1639 S. 23rd St. It is open 3-6 p.m. on Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays at the Northwest Health Center, 7630 W. Mill Road.
Contact Sarah Volpenhein at svolpenhei@gannett.com or 414-607-2159. Follow her on Twitter at @SarahVolp.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin kindergartners far behind country in vaccines for measles
