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As Michigan's
immunization rate dips to
last in the nation, doctors
stress the necessity for
compliance.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
laine Kahn understands the risks
associated with not having her
children immunized.
The Oak Park mother of two
young boys knows that, some-
how, an illness — one all but
eradicated by such immuniza-
tions — could creep into her chil-
dren's bodies and attack them.
She knows she would have to
nurse them back to health or, in
the worst possible case, bury
them.
And yet she does not have the
pediatrician give them the shots.
"I might be obnoxious or bel-
ligerent in assuming that I am
my children's doctor or can save
my children from the polio virus,"
Ms. Kahn said. "But I believe
that my children's immune sys-
tems are bolstered through our
lifestyle and diet."
Ms. Kahn is one of thousands
of Michiganders who opt out
of the standard program of
several recommended immu-
nizations before the age of 2, a
choice made either out of philo-
sophical resistance to inocula-
tion or out of ignorance of the
requirements.
State officials require children
entering school to be fully vacci-
nated against diphtheria, per-
tussis, tetanus, polio, whooping
cough, measles, mumps, rubella,
hepatitis B and haemophilus in-
fluenzae type B (HIB). Eighty
percent of these inoculations are
scheduled to occur before the
child's second birthday.
Exemptions are allowed un-
der three circumstances: a med-
ical contraindication (a serious
reaction to an earlier vaccina-
tion may warrant a doctor to dis-
continue an immunization
schedule), a refusal on religious
grounds (Christian Scientists
refuse vaccinations) or philo-
sophical disagreement. These
exemptions account for slightly
more than 1 percent of unvacci-
nated children. The Centers for
Disease Control in Atlanta this
month ranked Michigan last of
all states in recorded immu-
nizations among 2-year-olds.
Less than 65 percent of these
children have received the
scheduled doses.
State officials argue that the
federal percentages only cover
the time period up to June 1995
and recent efforts have increased
compliance. They also point to a
greater than 95 percent compli-
ance rate among school-age chil-
dren. In addition, new programs
such as an easily accessed
statewide vaccination registry
and a push to get health-care
providers to review the vaccina-
tion history at each visit may
make it easier for parents and
doctors to keep up on vaccina-
tions.
But while Dr. David Johnson,
chief medical officer of the state
Department of Community
Health, is pleased with the re-
cent efforts to raise the compli-
ance rates, other statistics —
those detailing the number of
children diagnosed with vaccine-
preventable diseases — are
more troubling.
Last year alone, 108 children
in Michigan were diagnosed with
HIB, Hepatitis B, mumps,
whooping cough and rubella; two
unvaccinated children died. The
year before, 105 children came
down with those illnesses. A
measles epidemic that swept the
country from 1989 to 1991 struck
55,000 Americans who racked up
44,000 days in the hospital; 160
of them died, the majority of
whom were unvaccinated chil-
dren.
"These are not cases of vaccine
failure. This is failure to vacci-
nate," Dr. Johnson said.
Vaccines generally work by in-
troducing a small amount of the
disease to a person's body in or-
der to develop antibodies to the
illness. If the person is later ex-
have trouble diagnosing one if he
saw it.
"There was a time in this coun-
try when tens of thousands of
people were diagnosed with po-
lio," he said. "Now there are eight
cases a year in the whole coun-
try. Of the millions and millions
of people in the country, there are
eight cases."
"I think that is a medical suc-
cess story," Dr. Singer said.
Another success he is current-
ly witnessing is a dramatic drop
in incidence of the most common
cause of meningitis, BIB. Before
The state of
Michigan is
trying to
improve its
immunization
rates with an
ad campaign.
IMMUNIZE
YOUR LITTLE
MICHIGANDER
Call your physician or your
local health department.
1 800 26 BIRTH
-
-
-
posed to the illness, the body, the-
oretically has a better chance to
fight it.
Dr. Stanford Singer, a pedia-
trician who practices in South-
field and Farmington Hills, said
vaccinations have all but elimi-
nated the most serious childhood
illnesses. During his 30 years of
experience in pediatrics, Dr.
Singer has never seen a case of
polio and admits that he might
the vaccine went into general use
about 10 years ago, he would see
five to 10 cases annually of chil-
dren suffering from this poten-
tially fatal infection; now, he sees
none.
He recommends that parents
or guardians take children un-
der the age of 2 to the doctor at
least five or six times in order to
receive what is the majority of
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