Mississippi has the highest rate of childhood vaccination because it is one of only two states in the U.S. that does NOT allow parents a CHOICE regarding vaccines, as a requirement for attending school. Only a medical doctor can provide an exemption, as Religious and Philosophical Exemptions are NOT Allowed.
The Clarion Ledger was obviously proud of their vaccination rates, and many around the country want to follow their model and REMOVE VACCINE CHOICE FROM PARENTS AND FAMILIES.
Lindey Magee, however, does not think Mississippi should be so proud of their vaccination rates, given the fact that MISSISSIPPI RANKS LAST in the U.S. with the HIGHEST INFANT MORTALITY RATES, and very low scores in other key health figures for children:
- See more at: http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/mississippi-first-in-infant-vaccin...To be clear, ranking as the most highly vaccinated state is NOT something to be proud of.
More educated states are seeing more and more parents opt out of some of the 49 doses of vaccines administered to our children before kindergarten. Ranking first in vaccination compliance only indicates that Mississippi families are being exploited for its reputation of ignorance and lack of education.It is an embarrassment, not a badge of honor.
As citizens of this state, it is time we take notice of our state’s archaic vaccine law. As it is now, the state of Mississippi requires children first be vaccine-injured before a parent can begin the uphill, long battle to secure said injured child from further damage. That is barbaric! Meanwhile, forty-eight other healthier states provide religious and/or philosophical vaccine waivers.
While we have the highest vaccination rates, Mississippi also has the highest infant mortality rate in the U.S. Keep in mind that the U.S. is the most highly vaccinated country in the world; now consider that as a nation, our infant mortality rate falls below 27 other wealthy countries-some of which do not even mandate vaccines at all! Mississippi has the most highly vaccinated pediatric population IN THE WORLD.Why then are we the LEAST healthy? Yes, poverty and crap food, etc. plays a part, but too many vaccines too soon cannot be ignored.
I implore those who buy into this “vaccines must be mandated” notion that uses seriously dangerous diseases like polio and smallpox to sell 30+ doses of vaccines to all babies by six months to reexamine the topic. I was born in 1979 and received 10 doses of vaccines by high school. Where will it end? Mandated medicine is a slippery slope and is affecting a generation of over-vaccinated children! (Source.)
Infant mortality rates cannot be closely correlated with vaccination rates. Most deaths recorded occur wihin a few day of birth and not from infectious diseases. Most of the deaths occur before any vaccinatons are given. Consider the infant mortality rate in third world African countries versus their vaccination rates! Infant mortality rates have a very high correlation with length of gestation, perinatal complications, poverty levels, maternal health & age, maternal parity and availability of quality health care. Missisippi has about the highest poverty level and poorest availability of healthcare in the USA.
The Hepatitis B vaccine is a baby killer? How about looking at some REAL data!
Hep B became a part of the vaccine schedule for children in 1994. Where's the spike in infant mortality? In fact, the infant mortality rate in the USA went DOWN in 1994!
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.IMRT.IN
USA infant mortality per 1000 births
1985 11
1986 10
1987 10
1988 10
1989 10
1990 9
1991 9
1992 9
1993 9
1994 8
1995 8
1996 8
1997 8
1998 7
1999 7
2000 7
2001 7
2002 7
2003 7
2004 7
2005 7
2006 7
2007 7
2008 7
2009 6
2010 6
2011 6
2012 6
2013 6
2014 6
Those statistics are obviously not accurate... I mean seriously it's by the World Bank! "Working for a world free of poverty"! Give me a break that's quite a slogan, but that organization is far from altruistic, the numbers are anecdotl at best.
Infant mortality rates (IMR) are a multi-faceted issue and the simplistic "too many vaccinations" erroneous correlation doesn't hold water when Bayesian plausibility and Occam's razor is applied to that hypothesis and real large scale data is examined.
Causes definitely correlated to IMR, supported by large scale population analysis:
- living in poverty
- no access to high quality health care facilities
- lack of prenatal care
- Teen mothers
- Diabetic mothers
- Hypertensive mothers
- Preeclamsia
- Smoking mothers
- Drug & alcohol abuse by mothers
- Nutritional status of mothers
- Prematurity
- Low birth weight at full term
- Perinatal complications (Breech presentation, cord issues, Group B Strep infection)
- birth defects
- unintentional injuries
- intentional injuries
- Infectious disease (many vaccine preventable, BTW)
- SIDS suffocations
- Minority status (and in particular, Blacks, regardless of economic status)
References supporting a positive correlation, regardless of immunization status, between poverty and lack of availability of quality health care with infant mortality in Missisippi:
Healthcare quality map - Note Mississippi.
http://archive.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr03/sumfig1.gif
USA poverty map - Note Mississippi.
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/images/07_0091_05.gif
Infant mortality rate map - Note Mississippi.
http://www.juancole.com/images/2012/07/infantmort.jpg
Premature birth rates map - Note Mississippi.-
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/11/health/map-preterm-births/index.html
Infant mortality, in relation to minorities & poverty, has been studied for decades:
1960-63 Infant Mortality vs. Poverty level TABLE
https://books.google.com/books?id=HmAtKsSvI7gC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=infant+mortality+rate+USA+poverty&source=bl&ots=Et9FYnp8rh&sig=udiFyGx11BTwJMSaJyNhLAnQiVY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JwCLVYGnJcrEogS6xAE&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=infant%20mortality%20rate%20USA%20poverty&f=false
1979 "Poverty and Infant Mortality in the United States"
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2094510?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
1988 "Poverty and Infant Mortality -- United States, 1988"
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00039818.htm
Minorities and IMR - Are all minorities over vaccinated?:
"Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Infant Mortality Rates"
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db74.htm
The HRSA has programs to reduce/prevent IMR - Note there's NO MENTION OF REDUCING VACCINATIONS:
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/infantmortality/coiin/index.html
> Reduce elective delivery at less than 39 weeks of pregnancy <reduce prematurity>
> Expand access to interconception care (between pregnancies) through Medicaid <better health care>
> Promote smoking cessation among pregnant women
> Promote infant safe sleep practices <SIDS prevention>
> Improve perinatal regionalization <geographically-targeted approach to assure risk-appropriate care for mothers and infants>
The HHS has programs to reduce/prevent IMR - Note there's NO MENTION OF REDUCING VACCINATIONS:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/factsheet/infant.html
- Healthy Start Program
- Increase access to Medicaid & SCHIP
- Toll-Free prenatal care hot-lines
- Childhood immunization initiatives
- Prenatal Folic Acid initiative
- "Back to Sleep" SIDS prevention program
- Reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission
- Grants to Maternal and Child Health Services (MCH)
- Reduce teen pregnancies
- Support a wide range of medical research related to birth defects, premature birth, SIDs and other life threatening conditions
While much prefer citing scholarly publications over populist media, these articles present a lot of food for thought about the correlation between poverty, minorities, availability of quality health care and infant mortality:
"Infant deaths: Searching for answers in Mississippi"
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/health/infant-mortality-mississippi/
"Washington’s Poorest Infants Are Ten Times More Likely to Die Than Richest"
http://www.newsweek.com/washington-global-infant-maternal-mortality-328148
"US Leads in Infant Mortality Due to Poverty"
http://economichardship.org/us-leads-infant-mortality-due-poverty/
"POVERTY AND INFANT MORTALITY"
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/style/poverty-and-infant-mortality.html
The fact that your list of causes doesn't include vaccination shows your apparent bias and that of your source. Also it does not include medicull malpractice, agency intervention, and prescription drugs. All known to be major factors in the mortality rate of humans, especially babies.
The fact that you Highlight the HHS and the fact there is no mention of the multitude of other circumstances that affect IMR is evidence in itself that the sources are bias.
Fact is The poor are vaccinated at a higher rate than the affluent, and all of the articles you listed focus on poverty. Your "too simplistic" argument is hypocritical when you consider the lack of speficity of your bias sources.