La Plata, Montezuma counties students not up-to-date on vaccinations

A report recently released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that many schools in La Plata and Montezuma counties have vaccination rates below the state’s. Health officials in Southwest Colorado say they are working to get more students current on their vaccinations.

Associated Press file

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A report recently released by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that many schools in La Plata and Montezuma counties have vaccination rates below the state’s. Health officials in Southwest Colorado say they are working to get more students current on their vaccinations.

Associated Press file

Many students at schools in La Plata and Montezuma counties are not up to date on their vaccinations, according to statewide school

Statewide data show that on average, 93.4 percent of students are current on their vaccinations. Twelve of the 18 schools reporting in La Plata County, and seven of 14 reporting schools in Montezuma County, are below the state average.

The six vaccine types required by Colorado law for children attending school are hepatitis B; DTap (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis); polio; MMR (measles, mumps and rubella); varicella; and tDap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), a booster for DTap.

The state health department recently published school and child care vaccination and exemption rates. Previously, school immunization rates were based on a sample of 350 kindergartners.

For the 2016-17 school year, CDPHE collected immunization and exemption data from about 86 percent of schools – 1,801 K-12 schools representing more than 850,000 students.

Parents may file for vaccination exemptions for their kids on religious, medical or personal grounds, although it is not advised by most medical professionals.

“From the public health perspective, all vaccines are reviewed carefully to provide a safe and effective method for families to make sure their children are healthy and protected from disease. We also have a commitment to keep populations who cannot get vaccinated safer,” said Liane Jollon, executive director of San Juan Basin Public Health.

Jollon said those unable to receive vaccinations include the elderly, those with immune system problems or women who are pregnant. So-called herd immunity helps to keep these people safe. Herd immunity, or community immunity, is described by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a form of indirect protection when most of a community is immune to infectious disease, reducing the likelihood disease will spread to unvaccinated individuals.

It is difficult to pinpoint what percentage of a population must be vaccinated for herd immunity to take effect because the numbers change with each disease. For a highly contagious disease, such as measles, 90 to 95 percent of a community must be vaccinated to protect the entire population.

La Plata County’s below-average vaccination numbers leave the county susceptible to a contagious disease outbreak, Jollon said.

“We have kids and families who travel to other countries where these diseases exist more frequently. We also have foreign visitors here. If we have rates here below herd immunity, it is possible to experience an outbreak,” she said.

Durango School District 9-R has a total public enrollment of 4,612 students, with 89.9 percent up to date on vaccinations, which is 3.5 percent lower than the state average. On the other hand, 784 students are enrolled at the Ignacio School District and 94.4 percent of those students are vaccinated.

“Parents can now look at the immunization rate of schools before sending their kid. This helps them to make an informed decision,” Jollon said.

Virginia Hernandez, immunization coordinator for Southwest Health System in Cortez, said Southwest Health and the Montezuma County Public Health Department work to help families stay up to date by providing low- or no-cost vaccines, including providing them at school-based clinics.

Hernandez said a community should have closer to 95 percent of people immunized for herd immunity to take effect. Most communities and schools in Colorado aren’t there yet, she said.

Hernandez said many parents who don’t immunize their kids don’t understand what communicable diseases can do because they are so rare. She said she remembers being ill with measles and whooping cough as a child, and several of her family members have experienced polio, so she has seen the effects of those diseases firsthand.

“These diseases follow you for the rest of your life,” Hernandez said. “They never go away and get worse as you get older.”

mrupani@durangoherald.com

The Journal Reporter Jacob Klopfenstein contributed to this report.