Transcripts For CSPAN Childhood Vaccination 20150214 : vimar

Introduce our panel of witnesses. After that, senators will each have five minutes of questions. We have two panelists today. In two hours for the hearing we will end about noon. We will have an hour for each panel and i will and the first panel at 11 00. From smallpox to polio, we have learned that vaccines save lives. Yet, a troubling number of parents are not vaccinating their children. Last september, this Committee Held a hearing about the ebola virus. Our witnesses included a brave and physician who worked in liberia and contracted people a and contracted ebola. There was and is no cure. There was and is no vaccine. This produced a near panic in the United States. It changed procedures in nearly every hospital and clinic. I remember one chattanooga Public Health officer saying it is ebola all the time, every day. In response, congress appropriated more than 5 billion to fight the spread of the virus. The impact of efforts is that the number of people a cases are declining. At the same time, here in the United States, we are experiencing a large outbreak of a disease for which we do have a back scene. Measles used to second up to second sicken up to 4 million americans each year. Many believed it was an unpreventable childhood illness. Introduction of a vaccine in 1963 changed everything. Measles was declared eliminated. Absence of continuous disease transmission for more than 12 months. From 20012012, the median number of cases reported in all of our country was about 60. Today is february 10, 2015 and the 41st day of the year and already we have seen more cases of measles than we would in a typical year. One Measles Outbreak in illinois a suburb about half hour from chicago, has affected at least five babies, all less than oneyearold. Infants and individuals who are immuno compromised are traditionally predicted by what is called herd immunity. Meaning that when more than nine out of 10 people are vaccinated so they dont get sick. That keeps the babies from getting sick. That herd immunity is incredibly important. Measles can cause lifethreatening complications in children. Such as pneumonia or swelling of the brain. Our eyewitnesses will talk about what is causing this outbreak and why some parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children. Measles is only one example. This hearing which was planned before the Measles Outbreak reminds us of the importance of vaccines. An analysis of immunization rates across 13 states performed by u. S. To usa today found the problem. Schools ranging from small private american reservation schools in idaho where vaccination rates have dropped precipitously low sometimes , under 50 . California is one of the 20 states that allows parents to claim personal belief exemptions from vaccination requirements. In some areas of los angeles 60 of parents have filed a personal belief exemption and those Elementary Schools vaccination rates are as low as those in chad or south sudan. The purpose of this hearing is to examine what is standing between healthy children and deadly diseases. It ought to be vaccinations. But too many parents are turning away from sound science. Sound science says vaccines save lives. They save the lives of people vaccinated, protect the lives of the vulnerable around them like infants and those who are ill. Vaccines save lives. They protect us from the ravages of awful diseases like polio which invades the nervous system , and can cause paralysis. I can remember how parents were frightened by the prospect of polio for their child. I had classmates who lived in iron lungs. Or whooping cough, is another example which causes they can causes it just to build up acutely in airways. Or a bacterial infection that affects the mucous membranes of your nose and throat and can damage your heart, kidney and nervous system. Vaccines save lives. They take deadly, awful ravaging diseases from our history. It is troubling to hear that before we have even reached valentines day this year, 121 americans are sick with measles, a disease eliminated in the United States 15 years ago. It is troubling that a growing number of parents are not following the recommendations of doctors and Public Health professionals who have been making this recommendations for those medical recommendations for decades. At a time when we are standing on the cusp of medical breakthroughs never imagined cutting edge personalized medicine tailored to an individuals genome, we find ourselves retreading old ground. I turn to senator murray for her opening statement. Thanks to all of our witnesses for coming to share your expertise with us today. Keeping our families healthy cannot be more important so im glad to have the opportunity to hear from all of you about the threat vaccine preventable diseases still pose in the United States. There is no question we have come a long way when it comes to what was once widespread and extremely dangerous illnesses. Vaccines are one of our countrys greatest Public Health successes. Thanks to them we know how to , prevent illnesses that struck so many children as recently as a generation or two ago. But recent news about the Measles Outbreak in many states made clear that vaccine preventable diseases are still a threat. And that we cant afford to become complacent about protecting the progress we have made. Bottom line, this needs that children across the country needed to be vaccinated. We need to be vigilant about breaking down any barriers that families may face when it comes to accessing certain vaccines and we need to which were that need to ensure that that in any cases where takeup rates are low, we are spreading awareness so more people can be protected. The hpv vaccine is a great example. It prevents lifethreatening cancers, including Cervical Cancer, which impacts thousands of lives in the United States each year. Despite that, cdc reports that takeup rates for the vaccine are still unacceptably low meaning people continue to be exposed to deeply harmful illnesses that could have been prevented. I know several of our witnesses have done a lot of work on this issue. I will have questions about what we can do to encourage broader use of vaccines. Im looking forward to an update about the recent Measles Outbreak and the work the cdc is doing to continue to encourage vaccines. Im eager to hear from dr. Kelly more about the role of states in preventing and responding to outbreaks. I know dr. Sawyer will be able to provide valuable insight into ongoing nationwide efforts to increase immunization rates and keep children and families healthy. So, i want to thank all of our witnesses for the important work you are doing and taking the time to be here with us today. Think very much, mr. Chairman. Thank you very much senator, and thank you for working together so we jointly invited the witnesses today. Each witness will have up to five minutes. If you will summarize your views in five minutes so senators have a chance to ask their questions. Then i will that will take an hour i said before some of the senators came in, well have to and the first time at 11 00 comes that we can get the second panel that will go on until 12 00. She has worked at cdc since 1998 on immunization, respiratory and other Infectious Diseases. She is a rear admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and was named assistant Surgeon General of the United States Public Health service in 2006. Welcome. Good morning, mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Our nations immunization system is strong, protecting the health of americans, saving lives and money. But this years outbreak of measles demonstrates how interconnected we are. Many threats are just in airplane ride away. Despite High National Immunization Coverage against measles, last year, we had more cases of measles in the u. S. Then we have had since 1994. Since generate first, we have already had more measles cases this year than we have had in most full years since 2000. From january to february 6 this year, 121 people from 17 states have been reported to have measles. Most are linked to an ongoing outbreak that originated at disney parks in california during december. Most cases were not vaccinated or did not know if they had been vaccinated. Recent patients with measles have exposed others in a variety of settings, including a at schools, child care emergency departments, Outpatient Clinics and airplanes. These episodes require a Rapid Response coordinated across local, state and federal jurisdictions. The backbone for such a response comes from the Public Health immunization infrastructure. The systems and people that protect our communities from vaccine preventable diseases. Today, we are talking about measles but we could just as easily be talking about a resurgence of the whooping cough, or a sorted shortage of a deck seen. We need a stronger immunization system that takes care of prevention and ensures the quality of clinical practice but is also robust enough to response to emergencies and his ready to launch mass vaccinations for the next pandemic. Whether a vaccine is given in a private Doctors Office or any community clinic, the Public Health system plays a Critical Role in making sure vaccinations are accessible, safe, and effective. And used in the best way to protect our americans. And that are immunization policies are based on a strong Scientific Foundation continually reviewed. Our priorities are maintaining a Strong Program including preserving core Health Infrastructure at the state and federal levels maintainin. Responding to outbreaks another and other insurgent vaccine needs. Coverage for many childhood vaccines is above 90 . And reported cases for most vaccine preventable diseases are down by more than 90 . Most parents are vaccinating their children with most of the recommended vaccines. Less than 1 of toddlers have received no vaccines at all. Immunizations continue to be one of the most costeffective health interventions. For each dollar invested, there are 10 of societal savings and three dollars of direct medical savings. The past 20 years of u. S. Childhood immunization has prevented over 300 million illnesses, 732,000 deaths and resulted in 1. 4 trillion in costs. In many ways, though, in cost savings. We are a victim of our own success. Fewer and fewer doctors are urging parents because of our success, parents may wonder if vaccines are necessary and may worry that the risks may outweigh the benefits of protecting their families from vaccine preventable diseases. The increase in measles cases should be seen as a wakeup call. Measles is very contagious. And quickly uncovers pockets of under vaccinations. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Measles Outbreaks uncovered systemic problems with poor children having access to vaccines. Relating to the creation of the vaccines for Children Program. Today, measles in the u. S. Is an indicator of how globally interconnected we are. When we see outbreaks with importations measles uncovers , those people in areas in the west that are opting out of immunization. We have indications that some of those unvaccinated microcommunities may be getting larger. Are immunization system has risen to challenges in the past and cdc will work with partners to keep measles from regaining a foothold in our country and. Working together we can keep , these numbers down, keep measles from returning and threatening the health of our communitys and sustain the enormous benefits that are Immunization Partnership has achieved. Thank you. About 10 years ago, he led a group of us to south africa and there we found maybe it was 12 years ago and there he found the president of south africa had rejected the science on hivaids and decided it was not caused by a virus and that the cure was a elimination of poverty, setting back south africa for years in terms of its ability to deal with hivaids. Now today, there is information that is on the internet, which is where we were told the president found his information some years ago, that says there was a study in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield alleging a connection between measles, mumps and rubella vaccines and autism. Lets say you were a physician or pediatrician and a parent comes in and says i have been on the internet and i am concerned because i found that, according to this medical journal, there is a relationship between this measles and mumps vaccine and the possibility of my child being autistic. What would you say to that parent . Autism is a terrible condition. That paper you are mentioning has been totally discredited. It was found to be fraudulent and is not the case. There have been dozens of studies of vaccines. And the question of fact question of vaccines they do not , cause autism. They are highly effective and safe and or a good way to and are a good way to protect your children from vaccine preventable diseases. When you say totally discredited, what do you mean by that . Information was found to be fraudulent by a british investigator. Some of the information was not correct in terms of the notes that were submitted. There have been dozens of studies that were better to understand whether there is a link between vaccines and autism. It was a natural question some parents had because of the onset age for autism. But those studies have been incredibly reassuring. When i talk to the parents, i explain that as a physician and a Public Health expert, i can tell you that vaccines are very safe and effective. While autism is a terrible condition, vaccines do not cause autism. , so you woul he would say that that article was just flat wrong . Thats right. Numerous studies have shown that was wrong. What happened to the author of the article . He lost his medical license because of the fraudulent behavior. We have been talking about a variety of vaccines. It struck me as we were so worried about ebola last fall that many of the Public Health people would point out to me from tennessee that we had the flu season coming up how Many Americans die each year from the flu . Flu is very variable. It can be between 3000 in a good year to 50,000 in a severe year. This is a quite severe year for flu. So 3000 to 50,000 could die. Is a vaccine for flu . That is right. Right now, about 46 of americans get a flu vaccine each year. We would like that to be much higher. So we do recommend everybody six months and over get a flu vaccine every year. Lets go back to the measles for a minute. Measles is not just a runny nose. It is a serious disease. What would you say to a parent who comes in and says i will opt not to get the measles vaccine . What are the risks of that . How many children who contract the measles die . Before there was the measles vaccine, 400500 children in this country died. The risk of dying is much higher in countries that are poor where malnutrition is a problem. We have about 150,000 thats deaths from measles around the world each year. It used to be millions and that is an improvement because of high uptake of measles vaccines. If your child contracted measles in the United States the chances of death would be about one and 1000 . Thats right. But remember, there are other problems with measles. Even a mild case of measles is a scary thing for a parent. When i had measles, she was scared to take my temperature because i looked so horrible. It has been so high. She was worried it was not coming down. It can be pretty scary for parents, even the mild cases. There are other complications besides death. Children can get pneumonia or dehydration or also get a neurologic problem. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here and for all the work you do to protect our families and children across the country. There is no doubt the challenges remain with regards to immunization rates. Broad access to nocost vaccines is clearly a key factor in maintaining and improving our vaccination rates. In my home state of washington, we have a universal Childhood Vaccine Program in washington which provides recommended vaccines for all children. But i know there are a number of important federal programs that ensure access to free vaccines. Can you describe the cdc effort to ensure all americans do have access to the vaccines they need without cost sharing . And particularly why that is so important. The cdc administers the vaccines for Children Program. We celebrated 20 years of that program. It has been extraordinarily effective. It provides free vaccines to children who were uninsured and medicaid eligible. To find financially Vulnerable Children in the country. It provides vaccines for almost 50 of children in the United States. This program has greatly overcome racial, ethnic and financial barriers to vaccination. We see much higher coverage now in the era of the program. As i mentioned, we think it has saved over 300 million illnesses and saved 1. 4 trillion. Cdc supports the state discretionary Immunization Programs to bridge the gaps that are not addressed through the program. In particular, supporting the Public Health infrastructure for immunization so state and local Health Departments that work with the clinicians in those