Weighing in on National Statistics
Take a Shot
13 percentage of parents not vaccinating children on the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended schedule.
Source: U.S. CDC
The rates in Polk County of parents not completing immunizations on time is 1.6 percent for kindergarten and 1.3 percent for seventh grade, but they would need to get them completed in order for their children to either enter or remain in school. State rates for these groups are 4.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.
Parents of unvaccinated children also need to understand that their child may be kept out of school during situations where a vaccine-preventable disease is discovered at their school. As we have seen recently, a child with a vaccine-preventable disease often causes a parent to miss multiple days from work, in addition to the child’s missed days from school. Parents who understand these issues, along with the safety of vaccinations, have helped contribute to Polk County consistently performing above the state average.
Dr. Daniel Haight
Director, Polk County Health Department
Polk County Medical Association Member
Double Trouble
76 percentage increase in twin birth rate from 1980 through 2009.
Source: U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention
This has been largely attributed to women having children later in life, and the impact of fertility treatment.
Around the world the rate of fraternal twins varies, the highest being among the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. There is possibly a link with their high consumption of a type of yam high in plant estrogen. There may be a genetic component. The rate of identical twins, however, is the same around the world.
Anecdotally, in our community, we have seen an increase in twin births somewhat in excess of what we would expect statistically. What is interesting is that this seems to be spontaneous (without use of infertility treatment), and in younger women. Perhaps the joke about warning women to ‘watch what is in the water’ so as not to get pregnant may not be that far from the truth after all!
Edmund Andah, MD, FACOG
Heart of Florida OB/GYN Associates