“The devil is in the details.” We hear it said, often glossing over the words, but how does it apply to the recent Pertussis outbreak in Henderson County, where 34 individuals have been diagnosed, and over 1,000 have been exposed to a “potentially deadly” bacteria? This outbreak has suddenly created an echo across the state for removal of religious exemptions, blaming the unvaccinated for the spread of the illness, and begging to take away the rights to religious choice.If one were to consider the surface information, the average takeaway from media soundbites, it makes sense to call for the removal of religious exemptions. After all, it has to be the unvaccinated who are responsible for the resurgence of Pertussis. Logically, if you get vaccinated, you can’t get sick. Right?
In an Asheville Citizen-Times article titled, “OPINION: The dangerous loophole in our vaccine legislation,” author Nikki Pritchard calls for the resurrection of a failed bill introduced in 2015 that would have removed the states religious exemption option, leaving only medical exemptions in North Carolina when it comes to vaccination. Even though the law clearly states “bona fide religious belief,” it’s been suggested that those utilizing this exemption, are in fact, not religious at all – and instead, taking advantage of a loophole in the system. The conversation of religion and which ones “count” in the vaccine debate doesn’t come in to play according to the law.
So why do the details matter here? This call to action made me wonder if the religious exemption was really at fault. What are the vaccination rates for this illness and why is there such an outbreak in a community like Henderson County? In the 2014-2015 school year, among students utilizing exemptions to enter kindergarten, Henderson county had one of the lowest rates in the state, coming in at 1.4%. So, to protect those at risk, the magic number to achieve the theory of Herd Immunity is 95%, then school age children are more than covered. A pertussis outbreak of this magnitude should be an anomaly.
According to the December 12th “Pertussis Outbreak Situation Report” by the Henderson County Health Department, 34 individuals countywide have been currently diagnosed, while exposing approximately 1,000 other individuals. Since the Henderson County Health Department cannot confirm the vaccination status of those diagnosed, stating via phone call on December 11th that they are not "collecting that information," I turned to the Center for Disease Controls website to find more information as to why those assumingly vaccinated against the illness are still contracting it. As stated by CDC documents, “Vaccinated children and adults can become infected with and spread pertussis; however, disease is typically much less serious in vaccinated people.” (a)
So I pose the question: With a current high vaccination rate among school-age children, and the CDC stating that even with the vaccine, people can become infected with the very illness they are trying to avoid, what would removing a religious exemption do to lessen the rate of Pertussis outbreaks? Why are those individuals who are fully compliant with the CDC’s recommended vaccine schedule still contracting the illness?
With more digging, I came across an article by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 2013. (b) As stated in the article, “Based on an animal model, the study conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and published November 25, 2013, in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that acellular pertussis vaccines licensed by the FDA are effective in preventing the disease among those vaccinated, but suggests that they may not prevent infection from the bacteria that causes whooping cough in those vaccinated or its spread to other people, including those who may not be vaccinated.” (c)
If that’s true, then what about the ever popular GlaxoSmithKline's commercial with the unvaccinated Grandma turning into a Wolf as she spreads Pertussis to her newborn grandchild? Based on that study, wouldn’t it suggest that if Grandma gets the shot, she’s more likely not to show symptoms while still culturing the bacteria – and then possibly spreading this highly contagious bacteria to those she’s intending to protect?
Another study published in 2012 by Maxwell A. Witt, Paul H. Katz, & David J. Witt; titled, “Unexpectedly Limited Durability of Immunity Following Acellular Pertussis Vaccination in Preadolescents in a North American Outbreak” concluded that, “the current schedule of acellular pertussis vaccine doses is insufficient to prevent outbreaks of pertussis. We noted a markedly increased rate of disease from ages 8–12 years, proportionate to the interval since the last scheduled vaccine.” This study suggests that these outbreaks are not due to use of exemptions, but rather a failure of the vaccines themselves. (d)
These studies are being published in one medical journal after another, each one pointing to the failure of the vaccine. They are easy enough to find and understand.
Based on the multitude of studies conducted over the last 20 years since the introduction of the current versions of the pertussis vaccination, the information suggests that pertussis outbreaks are not occurring due to the use of religious exemptions, but instead due to a failing vaccine. More information needs to be collected, analyzed and openly published and shared as to why vaccination itself is causing the spread of the illness – quite probably by the silencing of symptoms, which under normal circumstances would cause a person to stay home until they were healthy, as to not spread the illness to those most vulnerable.
The ultimate detail it seems is this study, where researchers stated the following: “This disease is back because we didn’t really understand how our immune defenses against whooping cough worked, and did not understand how the vaccines needed to work to prevent it... Instead we layered assumptions upon assumptions, and now find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of admitting that we may [have] made some crucial errors. This is definitely not where we thought we’d be in 2017.” (e)
Why call for the removal of a choice, in this case, religious and protected by state law, when said removal does nothing to change the reason such outbreaks are occurring? Instead of placing the blame on the very small percentage of families who utilize exemptions, why don’t we put pressure on our healthcare providers, the CDC, and the pharmaceutical companies to find better alternatives to a faulty vaccine?
As it stands, what we are left with is a false sense of security via a “one size fits all” shot, which still poses risk as indicated on the insert; effectively blindsiding us when our children and loved ones are diagnosed with a highly contagious illness. Instead of providing the public with easily accessed and unedited information about vaccinations, they are allowing people to believe that in order to be safe and healthy, they must allow exemptions to be removed.
This problem will not be solved by removing rights and blind adherence to an incredibly successful marketing campaign. This problem will be solved in the details – and with more knowledge, information and education by medical professionals and the public.
References:
(a) http://www.hendersoncountync.org/health/documents/communicable_disease/pertussis/12-12-17MediaSitRep.pdf
(b) https://www.niaid.nih.gov/news-events/fda-study-helps-provide-understanding-rising-rates-whooping-cough-and-response
(c) http://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/787.full.pdf
(d) https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/54/12/1730/452864
(e) https://www.bu.edu/sph/2017/09/21/resurgence-of-whooping-cough-may-owe-to-vaccines-inability-to-prevent-infections/
UPDATED 12/20/2017
