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Senate health committee discusses measles, vaccination strategies
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The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a full committee hearing this morning to discuss the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, influenza, pertussis and HPV.
“The purpose of this hearing is to examine what is standing between healthy children and deadly diseases,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said during the hearing. “It ought to be vaccinations, but too many parents are turning away from sound science, and sound science is this: vaccines save lives.”
The panel received testimonies from infectious disease experts concerning vaccination rates and programs before opening up the floor for questions. Although this hearing was initially scheduled before the ongoing outbreak of measles, the disease was a prominent part of the discussions.
“Since Jan. 1, we’ve already had more measles cases this year than we’ve had in most full years since 2000 when homegrown measles was eliminated in the U.S.,” Anne Schuchat, MD, assistant surgeon general and director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during the hearing. “Measles uncovers those people and areas in the U.S. that are opting out of immunization, and we have indications that some of those unvaccinated microcommunities may be getting larger.”
Anne Schuchat
Other topics of discussion included local, state and national vaccination programs; appropriate use of funding through the Section 317 Immunization Grant Program; the required inclusion of recommended vaccines within the Affordable Care Act and insurer compensation; and the spread of surveillance and clinical data to parents and schools.
“We can’t afford to become complacent about protecting the progress that we made,” Sen. Patricia Murray, D-Wash., said during the hearing. “Bottom line, this means children across the country need to be vaccinated. It also means we need to be vigilant about breaking down any barriers families may face when it comes to accessing certain vaccines, and we need to ensure that in any cases where take-up rates are low, we’re providing information and spreading awareness so that more people can be protected.”
The Infectious Diseases Society of America released a statement applauding the hearing and advocated for more discussion on the topic of vaccination strategies and the measles outbreak.
“Public policy must reflect medical and scientific evidence,” the organization wrote in a press release. “We urge parents to ensure that their children are up to date with all recommended immunizations, including with the MMR vaccine, to prevent this serious disease from causing severe disability and death.”
Along with Schuchat, Kelly L. Moore, MD, MPH, immunization program director at the Tennessee Department of Health; Mark Sawyer, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California San Diego’s infectious disease division; and Tim Jacks, DO, FAAP, pediatrician, also testified as witnesses at the hearing.