Kennedy’s approach to vaccines means we should look outside CDC for guidance

MEASLES OUTBREAK

Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listens as President Donald Trump holds a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on February 26. A measles outbreak has killed a second child in the southwestern United States, authorities said on April 6, with almost 650 people now infected as the highly contagious disease spreads. Kennedy has alarmed health experts with his past rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines. JIM WATSON — AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES FILE

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Thank you state Sen. Kyle Mullica for proposing an amendment to House Bill 1027 to lessen the Colorado Board of Health’s reliance on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for determining the state’s vaccine policies.

Historically, the Board of Health has looked to a CDC committee to determine which vaccines school kids need to receive to enroll in public school. The committee is composed of doctors who understand the value and efficacy of vaccines. Their recommendations have been based on the best science.

Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, took over the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Colorado lawmakers have understandably become concerned Kennedy will stack the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) with vaccine deniers who will recommend fewer vaccines compromising children’s health and safety. Kennedy has attacked the committee’s current members, claiming they have conflicts of interest because they are pro-vaccine.

Mullica’s amendment to the bill states that the Board of Health should adopt immunization rules “taking into consideration” ACIP recommendations, as well as recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. The addition of more doctors will dilute the concentration of skeptics Kennedy may add to the ACIP.

“It really stabilizes what our immunization schedule is going to be to make sure our kids are protected and our communities are protected,” said Mullica on the Senate floor during the debate.

The amendment couldn’t be better timed. There have been three cases of measles in Colorado this season. An unvaccinated infant and an adult who had traveled in Mexico, and an adult who had not been traveling. People were exposed in Pueblo, Denver, and Pagosa Springs. Symptoms can take up 21 days to appear.

Two doses of the measles vaccine are 97% effective in preventing the disease. There is no downside to getting vaccinated. Not getting vaccinated poses significant risks. Those who get the disease risk getting pneumonia, experiencing neurological damage, or dying. As of last week, Americans have contracted twice as many measles cases as they did all last year. The outbreak has been significant in Texas where 56 people have been hospitalized. One adult and two children have died in Texas and New Mexico.

Colorado law requires all students to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliovirus, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella. Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children must file a certificate of exemption at the school and if there is an outbreak must keep their child home for a certain length of days.

There are people who have medical reasons for forgoing vaccines; they react badly to them. For their sake, it is important that as many people who can be vaccinated get vaccinated.

Thanks to Sen. Mullica, the state’s recommendations will continue to be based on science, and fewer parents will be tempted to endanger themselves or their children by forgoing vaccines.

Krista L. Kafer is a weekly Denver Post columnist. Follow her on Twitter: @kristakafer.