Michigan health leaders are declining to report the vaccination status for most of the state’s measles infections.
Of the nine confirmed infections as of Thursday, April 24, seven did not have their vaccination status disclosed by the state or local health departments.
The two exceptions were a pair of 1-year-old children in Ingham County, both of whom received at least one dose prior to infection, which follows the recommended childhood vaccine schedule.
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, said public health officials have to weigh individual privacy with what the greater public’s need to know when it comes to infectious disease information.
“Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian said reporting vaccination status may result in people or communities being targets of threats, intimidation or discrimination. It may also prevent further cooperation with health officials who do disease investigation.“