SINCE the December outbreak of measles in the United States – with the number of cases reaching 123 in California as of Friday, and cases being reported in some six other states, Mexico and Canada – some amount of focus has been placed on those who choose not to have their children vaccinated. However, Chief Medical Officer Dr Marion Bullock-DuCasse told the Jamaica Observer that though this might be the case in other countries, this is not the case locally.

Speaking to Your Health Your Wealth last week, Dr Marion Bullock-DuCasse said Jamaica does not have an issue with parents opting against vaccination.

“We really don’t have a large issue with that at all, because our coverage for first dose is 95 per cent or over,” she explained. “It is the second dose that is a little lower, over 80 per cent, that we want to bring up.

“Most times when we ask the parents [why their child isn’t adequately vaccinated] they are telling you they didn’t remember, because you go all the way from 18 months to four years, that’s why we want to do it at 18 months,” Bullock-DuCasse said of the shift to offer the booster dose of Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine at 18 months for those born after July 2013, instead of the original four to six years.

According to Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson, to date, there are some 120 vaccines in use to protect against more than 25 diseases. The World Health Organization says immunisation currently averts an estimated two to three million deaths every year and that global vaccination coverage remains steady.

The measles outbreak in the US reportedly started at Disneyland in California, and most of those who fell ill were not vaccinated.

Chief Medical Officer Bullock-DuCasse explained that vaccination is safe and that whatever issue that may have been raised, have been disproven internationally.

Paediatrician Dr Michelle Williams reiterated the point that overall, vaccines are safe. She told Your Health Your Wealth that parents do have concerns, however.

“Parents are concerned about the side effects but we try to allay their fear and let them know that it is not a high percentage of patients that get these side effects, but they still have to look out for them,” Dr Williams said.

She explained that each vaccine would have different side effects, but generally, a common side effect of vaccines is fever.

“For MMR, it is usually fever. Children usually get it about 10 days after getting the vaccine. They can get an allergic reaction as well, and pain to the injection site can be common as well,” the paediatrician explained.

Dr Williams said fever occurs in some five to 15 per cent of cases in the United States.

She also pointed out some rare side effects, which include allergic reactions that are usually minor wheals, lymphadenopathy, joint pain, swelling at the site of injection, and parotitis.

“All of the above are very rare,” Dr Williams stressed.

The Ministry of Health has, since the outbreak in the United States, been on a drive to get parents to ensure that their children are fully immunised for their age to protect them against deadly vaccine-preventable diseases.

Compulsory immunisation for children begins at birth and continues until six years old with the following schedule:

* Birth to six weeks: BCG (tuberculosis)

* Six weeks: first OPV (polio); first DPT (diphtheria, pertussis or whooping cough, tetanus)/Hepatitis B (Heb B)/Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (HIB)

* Three months: second OPV; second DPT/Hep B/ HIB

* Six months: third OPV; third DPT/Hep B / HIB

* Twelve months: first MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)

* Eighteen months: first Booster DPT; first Booster OPV; second MMR – for children born July 2013 and after

* Four to six years: second Booster DPT; second Booster OPV, second MMR – for children born before July 2013.