The measles outbreak in Clark County is officially over, ending four months of county response following the first case confirmed Jan. 4.
Clark County Public Health announced the end of the outbreak the morning of April 29, following 42 days without a new confirmed case, or two incubation cycles. In total, 71 confirmed cases were found in the county — two cases were of individuals who moved to Georgia, dropping the total Clark County count from the 73 cited in March.
Of the 71 cases, more than half were likely contracted from others in the household, with a quarter likely from a public space and about 16 percent from a school or child care center, the county’s announcement stated.
Public Health reports the total cost for the outbreak was close to $865,000, with agency staffing accounting for the largest share at about $616,000. While addressing the outbreak, the county was in “incident response” for 63 days starting Jan. 15.
“We’re grateful to see this outbreak come to an end without any deaths or serious complications,” Clark County Public Health Director Alan Melnick stated in the release. “But as long as measles exists elsewhere in the world and people continue travel, we’re at risk of seeing another outbreak. We must improve our immunization rates to prevent future outbreaks and keep our children and other vulnerable people safe.”
Though the outbreak is over, there are still lingering costs from county response. During a discussion in late April, Clark County Manager Shawn Henessee said the county was trying to get the cost of its response reimbursed by state legislative approval, reasoning that it could have been more had the county not had responded as well as it did.
“I’m not exaggerating when I say I think the three-quarters of a million saved the state millions of dollars in terms of not having to address a much more wide spread of the measles,” Henessee said.
Personal vaccine exemption bill on governor’s desk
A bill that would remove the personal or philosophical exemption from the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is awaiting Gov. Jay Inslee’s signature as lawmakers passed the legislation onto his desk last week.
Engrossed House Bill 1638 most recently received a concurrence vote from the state House of Representatives April 23 with 57 in support and 40 opposed. Although the bill is primarily sponsored by Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, he was the only Republican representing Clark County to vote for it, but Democratic lawmakers representing Vancouver were in support.
Rep. Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver, spoke out against the bill prior to the vote, saying that “this just essentially forces more vaccinations on students that may not need it.”
Kraft pointed to several failed amendments that would have made the legislation more palatable which included a prohibition on requiring further vaccinations for individuals who don’t show a positive antibody response from the first shots and an exemption for individuals who have biological relatives who have had adverse vaccine reactions, among others.
Kraft also took issue with information cited by proponents from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Immunisation Information Systems which stated a 78 percent vaccination rate in Clark County. She said the system was voluntary and that no school districts in the county reported into it.
“How could it possibly be accurate? It’s not,” Kraft asserted. She said that certificate of immunization reports that districts report into had a higher rate, specifically mentioning a 93 percent vaccination rate for sixth-grade students as of November 2018.
