SPOKANE, Wash — Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) confirmed Spokane County's first case of measles since 2015 Wednesday. Communicable Disease Program Manager Mark Springer says that year, two people from the same household were infected, the first known cases of the virus in the county in 21 years.
"I think we're hopeful for something similar," Springer said of the current case.
SRHD said the risk to most people is low, especially to those who are vaccinated. Though low immunization rates can lead to what Springer called "secondary or tertiary" cases.
Those most at risk are young, unvaccinated children and pregnant or immunocompromised people who are more at risk of complications from the virus.
Statewide, immunization rates among young children has trended down in recent years.
"It's always a concern," Springer said of low vaccination rates. "In a setting with high community immunity or herd immunity above 90%, 95%, transmission tends to peter out a little bit."
Washington Department of Health data shows immunization rates among kindergarteners have declined after 2020's five-year high.
In the 2020-21 school year, around 91% of children just starting school had completed the required series of shots, which includes the MMR vaccine. In the 2022-23 school year, that number declined to 87.6%. DOH data shows in Spokane County, just under 83% of kindergarteners had completed all vaccinations for the 2022-23 school year.
"There are very few allowed exemptions for the measles vaccine," said Dr. Sarah d'Hulst, the medical director for Primary Care at MultiCare in Spokane.
That's because of a state law enacted in 2019, which bars families from claiming personal or philosophical exemptions for the measles, mumps, and rubella shot.
That was the same year the state saw its largest measles outbreak in nearly three decades, with 90 reported cases centralized on the west side.
Washington DOH data shows a huge drop in personal exemptions from 2019 to the next school year, but the same period saw a jump in religious exemptions.
Springer says one factor in the lower immunization rates may have to do with the COVID vaccine.
"With younger children, there likely have been delays with kids getting vaccines because of limited access to health care in the early stages of the pandemic. That kind of gets people off schedule and a longer time to return," Springer said.
Though there has been what he called a "significant issue" with vaccine hesitancy and concerns about vaccine safety.
He recommends people speak to their pediatricians about the MMR vaccine, which he says provides around 98% protection from the virus with two shots.
"Although our overall vaccination rates might be a little bit low, our MMR tends to stay pretty high," Dr. d'Hulst said.
Specifically looking at measles immunization in the last school year, 91% of all kindergarteners statewide had received the vaccine, while that number hovered around 87% in Spokane County.
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