Locals fight worldwide diseases

World Immunization Week, April 24-30, targets awareness of the use of vaccinations to safeguard people of all ages against disease.
Locally, the SEK Multi-County Health Department aims to effectively vaccinate area school-aged children by working with school nurses to identify those who have a gap in their immunizations, and, after gaining parental consent, visiting the schools two to three times a year to administer the shots. Although the results of this assertive war on disease are positive, children in the area are not always staying up on their shots, said Deidre Wilson, a public health nurse with the SEKMCHD.
Specifically, gaps exist with the human papillomavirus vaccinations.
“A lot of them will get the first one but then since it is a series you don’t see them all the time come back to complete it,” she said.
Children who start the vaccination series under the age of 14 should receive two doses, while children who start the series after 15 need three doses in order to help ensure efficacy, according to the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
 The vaccination process can begin with children as young as age 9, Administrator Chardel Hastings said.
The HPV virus can lead to 17 different kinds of cancer.
Nearly 80 million — about one in four — are currently infected with the HPV virus in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the National Cancer Institute, 27,000 men and women are diagnosed with an HPV-related cancer.
“We would like to get children protected while they are still under their parents’ roof and still covered by their insurance,” Hastings said.
Mumps are also on the radar of health officials. In Kansas, 106 cases have been reported as of April 8, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Crawford County saw six cases in February. There have been two suspected cases of mumps in Allen County so far this year, but both tested negative, Wilson said.
“Everyone was on high alert,” (due to the Crawford County outbreak), she said.
College students are those most vulnerable to the disease. In environments like dormitories, where there is close contact, it can spread like wildfire. 
“It makes you wonder whether the vaccine efficacy is waning around that age period,” Hastings said.
The ACIP is researching whether a third booster is needed to combat mumps. Currently children receive a combined inoculation for measles, mumps and rubella at age 1 and again before entering kindergarten. Some post-secondary schools are requiring an additional MMR booster upon entry.
“It varies depending on the university or college that you are going to,” Hastings said.
A recommendation Hastings hopes to see in the future is mandated vaccinations for bacterial meningococcal, a disease that causes inflammation in the spine and brain that can also spread like wildfire in college dormitory settings. With a potential for permanently debilitating its victims, the disease affects otherwise healthy people and has a sudden onset with a rapid decline in condition.
“It’s a rare disease but because of the high fatality rate is a dreadful disease,” Hastings said. 
Although the vaccination is currently available, many children in the area are not being vaccinated, according to Hastings.
The Kansas Committee on Public Health and Welfare is currently considering HB 2205, which if approved, would add meningitis to the list of required vaccines for children in public and private schools.
A 2016 United Health Foundation report ranks Kansas below average in adolescent vaccinations rates for many viruses, including human papillomavirus (HPV) and pertussis. In an effort to improve those rankings Gov. Sam Brownback approved HB 2030 on April 12, allowing pharmacists to administer all vaccinations to those 12 and older. Previously, certified pharmacists were able to administer only the influenza vaccinations to children.
In other news, new recommendations for influenza shots have been issued for those who suffer extreme allergic reactions to eggs. In such cases, the shots should be administered in an inpatient or outpatient medical setting and supervised by a healthcare provider who is able to recognize and manage severe allergic reactions.
“If they have had a serious reaction in the past we would not do it (at the health department) depending on how severe the reaction was in the past,” Hastings said. “If they had just mild hives then we would feel comfortable doing it here.”