o State-supplied vaccines for children, such as DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and varicella (chickenpox), are free through the Childhood Vaccine Program, though an administration fee may be charged. No child in the state can be denied a state-supplied vaccine because of inability to pay the administration fee.
o The Free Clinic of Southwest Washington holds vaccination clinics without administration fees for uninsured children on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The walk-in clinics are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 4100 Plomondon St., Vancouver. Sign-in begins at 5 p.m. Parents need to bring their child’s immunization records, if they have them.
Public health officials are urging immunizations as several vaccine-preventable diseases make a resurgence in Clark County and across the state.
So far this year, 52 cases of whooping cough, or pertussis, have been reported in Clark County — more than three times the number reported at this time last year. Statewide, 319 cases of whooping cough have been reported this year.
o State-supplied vaccines for children, such as DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) and varicella (chickenpox), are free through the Childhood Vaccine Program, though an administration fee may be charged. No child in the state can be denied a state-supplied vaccine because of inability to pay the administration fee.
o The Free Clinic of Southwest Washington holds vaccination clinics without administration fees for uninsured children on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. The walk-in clinics are 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 4100 Plomondon St., Vancouver. Sign-in begins at 5 p.m. Parents need to bring their child's immunization records, if they have them.
Health officials are also seeing increasing numbers of chickenpox cases at local schools. Chickenpox cases are not required to be reported to health officials, unlike whooping cough, but Clark County Public Health typically hears when case numbers are rising, said Dr. Alan Melnick, public health director and county health officer.
Elsewhere in the state, seven cases of measles have been reported. No measles cases have been reported in Clark County this year.
“We take all of these diseases seriously. They’re diseases that can kill people or make them very sick,” Melnick said. “And they’re preventable.”
Still below 2012 epidemic numbers
Clark County’s year-to-date whooping cough cases nearly total the number of cases reported locally in all of 2014, when health officials recorded 59 cases. Statewide, health officials recorded 596 cases of whooping cough in 2014, down from 748 cases in 2013.
Those numbers are still far below the record-setting number of cases in 2012, when a whooping cough epidemic sickened nearly 5,000 people. Still, the rising number is causing concern among health officials.
“This can be a harbinger of the cases’ going up even higher later,” Melnick said.
Whooping cough, like many communicable diseases, often experiences ebbs and flows in case numbers, he said.
“The reason behind all of this, is the pertussis vaccine is very protective, but the protection wanes over time,” Melnick said. “That’s why we’ve been doing boosters.”
Health officials recommend a pertussis booster for adolescents and adults. In addition, women should get a booster with each pregnancy, Melnick said.
Whooping cough is an illness spread through respiratory secretions such as coughing and sneezing. The illness is especially problematic for children younger than 1, who have a whooping cough mortality rate of 1.6 percent, Melnick said. Immunization of older children and adults protects infants who are too young to receive the vaccine, he said.
Of this year’s local cases, 80 percent have been in people 18 or younger. Two cases were in infants, Melnick said.
Health officials are also concerned about the chickenpox in schools. Chickenpox, or varicella, can be problematic for pregnant women, newborns, adults and people who have immune system problems. One complication of chickenpox, varicella pneumonia, can be fatal, Melnick said.
“I really do want people to take chickenpox seriously,” he said.
Health officials have seen increasing numbers of chickenpox at Camas High School and Helen Baller Elementary School in Camas. The high school is also experiencing pertussis transmission, according to health officials.
Both schools have immunization exemption rates higher than the county average of 6.8 percent. The exemption rate at Camas High School is 7.1 percent; Helen Baller’s exemption rate is 10.7 percent, according to state health department data from the 2013-14 school year.
Countywide, 22 public schools and four private schools had exemption rates in the 2013-14 school year at 10 percent or higher.
“It scares me that you have some schools with exemption rates in the 10 to 20 percent range,” Melnick said. “It’s kind of like having kindling for a forest fire.”
