You’re not imagining it: we’re seeing surges in vaccine-preventable diseases in Michigan this year, as immunization rates have fallen and more school-aged kids are getting vaccine waivers.
Take whooping cough, aka pertussis, which has risen alarmingly fast this year, prompting a series of warnings from state health officials, including a virtual press conference with doctors and experts Thursday.
Normally, Michigan would see an average of just under 600 whooping cough cases in a normal, pre-pandemic year. But this year, more than 1,500 cases have already been reported to the state, while vaccine waivers for pertussis have doubled from 3.2% in 2020 to 6.2% last year, according to the state health department.
More than half of cases are among school-aged kids age 5-17 years old, and 66% of cases are either unvaccinated or had their most recent whooping cough shot more than five years ago.
That’s part of a larger trend, said Ryan Malosh, director of the Division of Immunization with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“Over the last year, we've had more measles cases than we've had in any year in probably the last ten years. We've had mumps outbreaks. We've had pertussis. We've had chicken pox…And it's a lot to do with the fact that our immunization rates are dropping, and we don't have enough immunity in our communities to prevent these outbreaks.”
Whooping cough is particularly concerning, however, because it can be deadly for babies.
“It starts off like a cold with mild symptoms, but it progresses to severe coughing fits that can last weeks to months,” said Dr. Delicia Pruitt, medical director of the Saginaw County Health Department and faculty at Central Michigan University College of Medicine. “It’s dangerous for infants, with nearly half of those under one-years old requiring hospitalization.”
Hospitals are also seeing an increase in young children with vaccine-preventable diseases, said Dr. Francis Darr, chair of the pediatrics department for the U.P. Health System-Marquette.
“Unfortunately, I have had the experience in recent weeks of taking care of several infants with vaccine-preventable diseases, including hospitalized infants with pertussis here in the Upper Peninsula,” he said. “There has been vaccine hesitancy [among those patients’ families]. It's been a part of that process, unfortunately…I just hospitalized a baby with RSV again in the last few days whose parents chose not to get that [immunotherapy] shot when offered it.”
Experts are urging adults to check their family’s immunization records (you can ask your doctor, or use the state portal here) to make sure they’re up to date, and get a Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) booster shot every 10 years.
If you have questions or concerns about your child’s vaccination schedule, talk to your pediatrician. “Our goals for their children are the same,” said Dr. Darr. “We are not the enemies of parents, we want to partner with parents. And I think that it's normal and laudable for parents to have questions about interventions we do for their children.”
