Scott Swanson
If your kids aren’t up to date on their vaccinations for common communicable diseases, Wednesday, Feb. 20, won’t be a good day when they get to school.
That’s because Feb. 20 is School Exclusion Day, and the Oregon Immunization Program is reminding parents that children will not be able to attend school or child care starting that day if their records on file show missing immunizations.
Under state law, all children in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start and certified child care facilities must have up-to-date documentation on their immunizations, or have an exemption.
“This year’s School Exclusion Day reminder has taken on added urgency as the Pacific Northwest confronts the worst preventable measles outbreak in more than two decades,” said Stacy de Assis Matthews, school law coordinator in the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division. “Immunizations are the most effective way to stop the spread of measles and other communicable diseases that put children and others at risk.”
Three more individuals were confirmed to have measles last week in Multnomah County, according to the state Health Department, bringing the number of cases to four as of this week.
The first Multnomah County resident who tested positive Jan. 25 was in contact with someone from Clark County, Wash., who was contagious with measles. These cases are part of a larger outbreak in Clark County, where health officials are investigating 49 cases of measles, with one additional case in King County, Wash.
The threat of measles appears to have increased interest in vaccination; in the last week of January, the number of measles vaccines given out in the Tri-County area (Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington counties) tripled compared with the same time last year, from 200 per day in January 2018 to 600 per day in 2019.
“This outbreak has put people at real risk,” said Ann Thomas, public health physician at the Oregon Health Authority. “It has also raised an awareness that measles could easily make a comeback, and the only way to prevent that is to get as many people vaccinated as possible.
If school and child care vaccination records are not up-to-date on Feb. 20, the child will be sent home. In 2018 local health departments sent 24,725 letters to parents and guardians informing them that their children needed immunizations to stay in school or child care. A total of 4,349 children were kept out of school or child care until the necessary immunization information was turned in to the schools or child care facilities. This year letters to parents were mailed on or before Feb. 6.
Sweet Home School District nurse Joan Pappin said Linn County Health Department has sent, or will send, letters to 60 families with students who have incomplete immunization records.
She said she started sending letters out in November and then again in early December to encourage parents to take their children with incomplete records to get updated shots.
“Winter break is always a good time to do that,” she said, noting that she asked teachers to remind parents again during conferences last week.
“Our district has 72 students who do not have an MMR for non-medical reasons,” Pappin said. “We have always had a higher population of parents who prefer to not vaccinate their children. I don’t know why.”
The state has always mandated immunizations, but in the past decade or more has added several shots to the list, Pappin said. Those include hepatitis A and B “because our state saw high numbers of both of these infections in Oregon” and Tdap, a tetanus booster with pertussis vaccine for incoming seventh-graders, and Varicella (chickenpox).
She said the recent measles outbreak demonstrates why the state mandates a list of immunizations for students.
“I think we are going to see a stricter non-medical exemption process in the near future,” Pappin said. Parents can view a 20-minute Oregon Health Authority module for every vaccination they want to exempt their children for. After viewing the module, parents can print a certificate and bring it to their child’s school. Find the module by Googling “Oregon Health Authority Vaccinations” or visit http://www.oregon.gov/oha/ph/preventionwellness/vaccinesimmunization/gettingimmunized/pages/non-medical-exemption.aspx.
That has to happen before Feb. 20, though.
“If kids come to school and they don’t have updated records, we literally send them home,” Pappin said. “It always surprises me how many kids we actually do send home. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it ended up being around 20 kids that we had to send home (last year).
She said that because the district did not offer a free shot clinic this year at Foster School and the Junior High, numbers could be higher this year.
“For the past 20 plus years we have had the Linn County immunization nurse come do a free shot clinic the week before Exclusion Day,” Pappin said, adding that the nurse retired last May and the county Health Department did not replace her. She said she provided a list of places people can get shots in the letters she sent parents, “but it takes planning and calling for an appointment.”