LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Vaccination rates for standard immunizations for children are down, creating worry that some diseases could reemerge as students return to full school in the fall.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccine orders are down 14% in 2020-21 compared to 2019. The vaccine for measles is down 20%.
"It's one of the diseases that is probably the most contagious and requires a high level of the community to be vaccinated in order for us to maintain our herd immunity," said Dr. Heather Felton, a pediatrician with Norton Children's Medical Group-Germantown. "I do worry about some of these vaccine-preventable illnesses coming back."
Felton said at least part of the reason for the downward trend is fewer in-person visits to the office. Playing a role in that is that flu and common cold cases were down significantly during much of the pandemic.
"We've overall seen a downward trend in our volumes in clinic," Felton said.
Most school districts require a series of vaccinations for diseases such as measles, rubella and hepatitis, but as many schools were not in-person, those standard vaccinations may have lapsed.
The CDC recommends that providers should begin calling parents about vaccinations for those children that may have missed doses.
"Kids need to get caught up now so that they are protected as they go back to in-person learning," wrote Dr. Nancy Messonnier with the CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.
In spite of significant hesitancy related to the COVID-19 vaccine, Felton said she doesn't see that same amount hesitancy with most children's immunizations.
"The routine childhood immunizations — the ones that have been around for years, the ones we got when we were kids — people usually feel comfortable with those," Felton said. "Even with all the talk and the noise going on with the COVID-19 vaccine, most people are still comfortable with the ones that have been around for a long time."
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