A low rate of vaccination in Colorado resulted in more preventable childhood illnesses and additional costs for hospitals in 2013, according to a local study released last week.
There were 538 reported cases in 2013 of vaccine-preventable diseases leading to hospitalization of individuals up to 19 years old, resulting in $29.2 million in hospital charges, according to the annual report by Children’s Hospital Colorado and the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition. There were three reported 2013 cases of vaccine-caused adverse events leading to hospitalization of a person 19 years or younger that cost $29,938 in hospital charges.
Pertussis, or whooping cough, cases in Colorado remained at epidemic levels for a second year in 2013, with 1,432 reported cases — 81 percent were in children.
The report, released Thursday, concludes that rates of very rare vaccine-adverse reactions stand in “stark contrast to the very real burden” of human suffering and health costs from vaccine-preventable diseases.
In 2013, Colorado ranked 45th among states in vaccination rates for children 19-35 months old, according to data compiled from the National Immunization Survey, Colorado Hospital Association’s inpatient database and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The Denver Post reported this week that Colorado ranks at the bottom nationally for kindergartners vaccinated for measles, at just under 82 percent. Colorado is one of 20 states that allow parents to claim any kind of personal opposition to immunization programs.
About 28 percent of children in the immunization survey received fewer than the number of vaccine doses recommended by the Colorado Board of Health for diphtheria-tetanus-whooping cough, measles-mumps-rubella, hepatitis B, chicken pox and influenza (HiB). Much of the gap, according to the report, stems from incomplete vaccination of young children, with only 86 percent of children 19 months to 3 years old receiving full measles-mumps-rubella doses.
That’s well below the 92 percent to 95 percent levels required to protect the population against an outbreak, according to report authors Dr. James Gaensbauer, researcher Carl Armon and Dr. James Todd from Children’s Department of Epidemiology.
“Without vaccines, we would expect more than 30,000 vaccine-preventable disease cases in Colorado children each year,” Todd said.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or twitter.com/electadraper
