Report: Vaccination rates differ from school to school

Immunization rates dipped slightly among Flathead County students in the 2018-19 school year, but there is a wide gap in vaccination rates between schools, according to new data released by the Flathead City-County Health Department.

County schools reported a 93.1% immunization rate for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for the 2018-19 school year, down from 93.7% in 2017-18 and 93.9% in 2016-17.

The rate for kindergartners dropped more steeply. It was down to 87.7% in 2018-19 after 91.3% the previous year.

Private schools Trinity Lutheran and Stillwater Christian reported the lowest vaccination rates. Trinity reported a 79.7% rate for the MMR vaccine and 82.5% for the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP) vaccine.

However, Stillwater Christian Head of School Jeremy Marsh said the data in the report for Stillwater was inaccurate. He said a processing error on Stillwater's end forced the school to submit incorrect numbers to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services by the Dec. 1, 2018, deadline set forth by the state. However, according to updated rates provided by Marsh, Stillwater remains one of the least-vaccinated schools in the county.

Rates provided by Marsh show the school reported vaccinations rates of 81.5% for polio, 78% for varicella, 80.2% for MMR, 81.2% for DTaP and 82.7% for the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis booster.

Rural K-8 schools had the lowest rates among public schools. Deer Park reported an 82.4% vaccination rate for varicella and MMR, with Kila and Cayuse Prairie also had low vaccination rates.

The state requires students to be vaccinated to attend any level of school in the state. However, parents can file a religious exemption indicating that immunizing their child would interfere with their religious beliefs. The exemption form needs to be notarized annually to keep the child in school, but does not require the parents to explain the reason for the exemption.

Out of 15,644 students in the valley, there were 1,128 religious exemptions, or 7.2% of students. Trinity Lutheran recorded the valley's highest rate with 22% of students receiving religious exemptions. At Deer Park, Cayuse Prairie and Kila, the rate was just over 14%.

The exemption rate makes it impossible for the Flathead City-County Health Department to reach its goal of having 95% of kids vaccinated, which ensures “herd immunity” and makes the spread of disease from person to person unlikely, said Lisa Dennison, infectious disease and prevention control supervisor for Flathead County.

“What we're really concerned about is measles,” Dennison stressed. “Measles is one of the most infectious illnesses and in light of the continuous measles outbreaks in the United States, we're really concerned that if we have a measles case in our area that it could impact a significant amount of people, a lot of kids.”

The latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control show there have been 1,241 individual cases of measles in the United States in 2009, the largest number since 1992. The section on measles on the CDC website states that measles is extremely contagious – 9 out of 10 people who are not protected will become infected following exposure to the measles virus.

“It used to be a plane ride away. Now, with the fact that we've had so much transmission of measles in the United States, it's now just a car ride away in some circumstances. So we want to make sure we have our communities as protected as possible against measles,” Dennison said.

Columbia Falls High School and Evergreen Junior High were both over 95% for all four required vaccines as well as the TDaP booster required for students entering seventh grade. Columbia Falls Junior High reported a rate over 95% on all vaccines except varicella (94.8%).

Cathy Dragonfly, Columbia Falls High School nurse, said she and the two other nurses in School District 6 try to play an active role in educating parents.

“We have a big responsibility to teach parents about vaccines” and correct misinformation, Dragonfly said, but the decision ultimately comes down to the parents.

Last year, when schools across the U.S. were reporting measles outbreaks, Dragonfly and the other nurses let parents know their students would be forced to stay home from school if they had not received the MMR vaccine.

Dragonfly attributes much of the district's success in vaccination rates to “the district commitment to having school nurses.”

“We have a nurse in every building every day,” Dragonfly said, which is rare for a smaller district like School District 6.

Results for Kalispell schools were mixed. Flathead High reported a 95.4% rate for the MMR vaccine and 93.9% for DTaP, while Glacier reported 96.1% and 94.7%, respectively. Kalispell Middle School had a 95.9% vaccination rate for MMR and 94.3% for DTaP.

For Kalispell's elementary schools, Edgerton posted over a 95% rate on all four required vaccines, and Peterson and Russell schools both met the 95% goal for the MMR vaccine. But Rankin was at 92.6% and Hedges and Elrod each had a 90.7% MMR vaccination rate.

Whitefish High School achieved a 93.4% rate for MMR and a 93.8% for DTaP, while Whitefish Middle had slightly higher rates, 94.2% and 94.7%. Rates were lower at Muldown Elementary – 89.7% for MMR and 90.6% for DTaP.

Bigfork High School reported a 93.3% rate for MMR and 93.6% for DTaP, but the elementary school's rates are a tick below 90% across the board, including 89.8% for MMR.

These results are significant in light of the World Health Organization calling “vaccine hesitancy” one of the 10 biggest threats to global health in 2019. In a report from earlier this year, the organization writes “vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases.”

The school-specific data can be accessed at http://flatheadhealth.org/data-and-reports/.

Reporter Colin Gaiser can be reached at 758-4439 or cgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.