Measles, polio vaccination rates among Tarrant County kids fall to worrisome levels
Fewer Tarrant County kindergartners were vaccinated this year against preventable diseases like polio and Hepatitis B, and in some cases vaccination rates dipped below the levels needed to prevent outbreaks, according to new data.
The decline comes over the last 2 1/2 years, during which the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted pediatric care and, for some families, increased distrust of vaccines.
Among the most worrying trends, scientists said, was the decline in vaccination rates for measles, a disease that spreads easily among people who are unvaccinated. Across all Tarrant County kindergartners, about 92.4% were vaccinated against measles at the start of the 2021-22 school year. Across the Fort Worth school district, the county’s largest, just 85% of kindergartners had received the vaccine. Both of those rates are below the threshold for herd immunity for measles, which is estimated to be about 95%. That means that if less than 95% of people in a given community have received the measles vaccine, the virus can spread easily from person to person.
“That’s a worrisome drop, because once you start getting below 95 is when you can start seeing breakthrough measles,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor in the departments of pediatrics, molecular virology and microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine.
“Once you cross that threshold, we start to lose our herd immunity,” Erika Thomspon, an associate professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. “So I think that’s where we should be somewhat alarmed.”
The data comes from an annual report released by the Department of State Health Services, which surveys all public and licensed private schools in the state for vaccination coverage, with detailed questions for students in kindergarten and seventh grade. The report relies on schools to accurately self-report vaccination rates among their students. The report doesn’t present a complete picture of vaccination rates in Texas children. Some schools don’t respond to the survey, and children who are schooled at home are not included.
Before the pandemic, about 95.9% of county kindergartners had received the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination at the start of the 2019-20 school year, and 95.75% of Fort Worth kindergartners had received the shot, according to the report from that year.
Neither the Fort Worth school district nor the Tarrant County Public Health Department immediately responded to an email from the Star-Telegram asking them to comment on the decline in routine vaccinations.
The state’s report showed declines in diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and rubella, polio and varibella vaccines. The average vaccination rate for Tarrant County kindergartners was below the state’s average for every vaccine reported.
The new data confirms a worrying trend from throughout the pandemic.
“I’m not surprised,” said Dr. Susan Wootton, professor of pediatric infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. “I would say this is a red flag ... because it’s persisting into a second year.”
Wootton noted that in a state as big as Texas, even small dips in vaccination coverage amounted to thousands of students left unprotected.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Dr. Susan Wootton’s name. The story has been updated.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 5:24 PM.
