SOUTH BEND The Pacific County Commissioners heard a renewed plea at their regular meeting on Sept. 11 for adults to get vaccinated against pertussis as the countys public health officer presented his annual report.

    Dr. James Edstam explained that while Pacific County hasnt had a serious problem with pertussis, also known as whooping cough, statewide and nationwide there is an epidemic that has cost the lives of infants.

    Edstam said the vaccine administered before the 1990s caused more side effects, such as fever, prompting the development of a new vaccine that is better tolerated. The downside is it doesnt last as long, he said.

    Whats happening when you have a vaccine that doesnt give you as good of protection is that you end up with a lot of cases of the disease where you have partial protection, Edstam said. So you can get the disease, but it may not be very severe.

    A mild case of the disease may not be recognized and treated as pertussis, he said, so its easy to spread. Were seeing that happen, he added.

    Babies dont get immunized for pertussis until theyre six months old, Edstam said. That makes them particularly vulnerable.

    An adult pertussis vaccination called TDAP is available, and Edstam encourages adults to roll up their sleeves to help protect our most vulnerable residents.

    We dont care if you get pertussis, were trying to protect the less than 3-month- olds, he said. Youll survive pertussis.

    

Immunization exemptions

    Starting last year, the state required parents seeking an exemption from vaccinations for their child to undergo counseling by a medical practitioner, Edstam said. He pointed out that Washington has the highest exemption rate in the country.

    Exemptions were designed for religious objections, he said, but many parents have sought exemptions out of concern that vaccinations would cause autism or other problems in children. This is not founded on any science, he said.

    Fear of vaccinations has caused a backlash, he added, In fact what were starting to see is mumps outbreaks and measles outbreaks in the news.

    Edstam told the commissioners that physicians and physician assistants were qualified to counsel parents seeking exemptions from vaccinations for their children but cautioned that chiropractors and other health care providers were not. It has to be somebody who can administer vaccinations, he said.

    

STD screening issue

    Edstam told the board that Pacific County continues to have one of the lowest reported rates of chlamydia in women in the state, but he is concerned the disease may underreported.

    Ive been concerned that its not that our (infection) rate is lower than the states but that our screening rate is lower than the states, he said. As I contact health care providers, the pushback I get is Oh, yeah, but no ones paying for (screening). Insurance doesnt pay for it, and people dont want to pay for it.

    Making matters worse, Edstam said, PAP smears, which used to be done annually and included testing for sexually transmitted diseases, are now done every three years for women who show no symptoms.

    Edstam said discussions with individual physicians about increasing chlamydia screening were not encouraging, but Cowlitz Family Health Center and Valley View Health Center were more receptive to the idea.