16 April 11 • 2019 jn continued from page 14 continued from page 14 jews d in the at 4-6 years. Children can receive the second dose earlier if it is at least 28 days after the first dose. High immu- nization rates protect those who are immunosuppressed or are too young to receive an immunization. Dr. Udi Kapen, a pediatrician in Bingham Farms, says there are immu- nization changes for very young infants during a disease outbreak. “If there’ s any question of exposure, a baby as young as 6 months can receive the vaccine, ” he said. “Younger than that, they can get a dose of measles immune globulin, which would likely be admin- istered at the health department. ” Dr. Lisa Klein, a pediatrician in Troy and Novi, said Merck, the nation’ s sup- plier of the MMR vaccine, has been very responsive to her office’ s vaccine supply needs. Though she said things have quieted down since the outbreak was first reported, it could pick up again soon because of the disease’ s 21-day incubation cycle. According to the OCHD, anyone who has not received two documented doses of MMR or has not had a con- firmed case of measles can get measles. If exposed, approximately 90 percent of people who have not been vaccinated or previously had measles will develop the disease. Since the first case was con- firmed March 13, the OCHD has given more than 2,000 vaccinations. Laura Hirschhorn, 52, of Huntington Woods got her MMR booster for free at the OCHD without getting her titers checked. Many of the points of exposure, including Westborn Market, are all places she frequents. She also is alarmed at the high immunization waiver rate for 2017 within the Berkley school district, where one elementary school was as high as 9 percent. Her daughter attends Berkley schools. She says she thinks being immunized is the responsibility of every citizen to protect those who for medical or age reasons cannot be immunized. “I travel a lot for my job, ” Hirschhorn said. “I would feel horrible if I spread the disease to someone who is immune-compromised. There is no reason that this outbreak should be happening. ” ■ COUNTY STATISTICS According to a Metro Times article from February 2019, the city of Detroit has higher vaccination rates than wealthier surrounding school districts. The article stated that highly educated parts of Michigan are those where vac- cine exemption waivers are the highest. According to a Baylor University study, Oakland County has the fifth highest number of vaccination exemption waivers in the country. In the Troy school district, waiver rates among kindergarteners, sixth graders and transfer students ranged between 3 and 29 percent with paro- chial and private schools having the highest percentage of students with waivers, according to 2017 MDHHS data. In the Berkeley school district, waiv- er percentage rates were also running into the double digits at most schools, and no school hit the 95 percent benchmark for effective vaccination rates. Elementary schools in Oak Park and Huntington Woods neigh- borhoods, where the outbreak is the most severe, have some of the lowest vaccination rates in Oakland County, according to 2017 MDHHS statistics. Among childcare centers, data shows 85 percent of enrolled children are completely vaccinated with 3.4 percent of children attending with waivers. Oakland County’ s latest quarter- ly immunization report card from December 2018 shows that only 75 per- cent of the county’ s children between 19 and 35 months had received immu- nizations including the MMR vaccine, 5 percent below the state’ s goal for 80 percent by 2020; and 4.8 percent of kin- dergarteners in Oakland County had parental vaccination waivers — above the state’ s average rate of 3.6 percent. Statewide, the number of parents seeking waivers has been rising. Overall immunization waivers for kindergarten students increased from 3.66 percent of children in 2016 to 4.2 percent in 2017. The percentage of children with immu- nization waivers continues to be higher in private schools (7.91 percent) than public schools (3.88 percent). Parents seeking transparency need not look any further than reports on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website to know where their child’ s school or childcare center rates in how many kindergart- eners, middle schoolers or transfer stu- dents are attending with immunization waivers. ■ 24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110 Southfield, MI 48034 1-248-945-1111 What Is Your Plan?..... Call Us. We focus on Probate Litigation and Administration. Administering estates where everyone is on the same page. Protecting you from self-dealing parties appointed by will, trust or the court. Protecting you from family members who always want more. michprobate.com