Immunizations

Nine children in Texas have died of flu-related illness since the season started at the end of September, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said last week.

“What continues to amaze me is that people are really not educated about [vaccines],” said Trish Perl, MD, chief of the infectious diseases division at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “Some of [vaccine hesitancy] has been propagated by the anti-vaxxers, but some of it is just frankly not knowing.”

As measles cases continue to rise in Texas and across the U.S., the Texas Medical Association and Texas Hospital Association have created a document to help physicians and other health care professionals combat the highly contagious respiratory illness.

Although an anti-vaccine movement has continued to grow in Texas, the vast majority of voters support requiring vaccinations for Texas children, results from a poll released this week show. This is the third public opinion survey with very similar findings to be released in Texas in the past nine months.

It may seem like the sensible thing to do, but no, you can’t make everyone in your practice get a flu shot.

One of the most contentious areas of health policy over the past two decades has been the safety of vaccination. Vaccines prevent the outbreak of diseases that used to be widespread. Yet many Americans refuse or delay the vaccination of their children out of fear that it could lead to autism, even though scientific consensus refutes this claim.

Most Republican voters want schoolchildren to have their shots before going to school, according to a recent Texas survey.

Houston, Fort Worth, Plano, and Austin are among the cities in the nation with the highest number of kindergartners who have not received vaccinations because of nonmedical reasons, according to the study published this week in the journal PLOS Medicine.

Be Wise — Immunize™ is a public health initiative of TMA. The program works with physicians, medical students, and TMA Alliance members to improve vaccination rates in Texas through education and hands-on immunization clinics. TMA members can receive up to $2,500 for a vaccination event.

TMA supports efforts to increase immunization rates in Texas, including improve the state’s current immunization tracking system, ImmTrac; improving immunization education efforts for providers and parents; addressing public and private vaccine financing issues; and addressing vaccine shortages.