Pertussis Outbreak in Gallatin Cnty Emphasizes Need for Vaccinations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2011
An outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is occurring in Gallatin County. State, local and tribal public health agencies are encouraging Montanans to make sure they are up-to-date with pertussis vaccinations.
"The Gallatin public health staff is doing an excellent job working with schools and health care providers to prevent further spread of pertussis in the area", says Anna Whiting Sorrell, Director of the Department of Public Health & Human Services. "This is not an easy job but with the cooperation of parents, schools and health care providers we can stop this situation from becoming even worse".
So far in 2011, 101 cases of pertussis have been reported in Montana. The last 24 cases have been diagnosed in Gallatin County residents in the last two weeks. This is a public health threat that could spread beyond Gallatin County. At this time, 2 other cases have been reported in Park County but it is not certain that these are related to the Gallatin outbreak.
"All children over two months of age, parents, family members, and caregivers of infants, should be vaccinated against pertussis," said Lisa Underwood, Immunization Program Manager for the state health agency. "Persons who are not sure that they are fully immunized should talk with their healthcare provider or local health department".
Pertussis is a highly contagious disease that is especially dangerous for infants. When not fully immunized, infants are especially vulnerable to infection and are at risk for hospitalization and death. A typical case of pertussis in children and adults starts with a cough and runny nose that lasts for one to two weeks, followed by weeks to months of rapid coughing fits that sometimes end with a "whooping" sound. Coughing can be severe with gagging and vomiting. Older children and adults may not exhibit the classic symptoms and can have a milder illness.
Vaccination is the best prevention against pertussis. Combination vaccines approved for children and adults also protect against Diphtheria and Tetanus. Pertussis vaccination begins at age two months, but young infants are not adequately protected until three shots are received by 6 months of age. Because protection from the vaccine can fade over time, a booster is recommended for pre-teens, teens, and adults.
Because pertussis outbreaks can spread rapidly, health agencies work quickly to investigate each pertussis case. Persons who have close contact with a pertussis case may be treated with antibiotics to prevent illness. Fully vaccinated children and adults are less likely to become ill. If illness occurs in those that are fully vaccinated, the illness is generally milder. Montana’s last reported death from pertussis was in a Gallatin county infant in 2004. A recent outbreak of pertussis in California resulted in 10 infant deaths.
To protect yourself and others, make sure you and your family members are vaccinated against pertussis. To get the pertussis vaccine, please contact your healthcare provider or local health department. Detailed information regarding pertussis and pertussis vaccinations is available online at http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/

New Census data on poverty

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a blog post yesterday in response to the Census Bureau's newly released poverty data:

Deep Poverty on the Rise

September 22, 2011 at 4:01 pm

Deep poverty — that is, the share of the population with incomes below half the poverty line — rose by a statistically significant amount in 40 states (including the District of Columbia) from 2007 to 2010 and fell in none, Census Bureau data released today show. To read more...

Montana KIDS COUNT Guest Opinion in the Missoulian

Far to go to improve kids’ well-being

Missoulian, 9/2/2011

Earlier this month, the Annie E. Casey Foundation released its 2011 Kids Count Data Book, the leading report on the status and well-being of children in the U.S.

This year's Data Book focuses on the aftermath of the recession and reports an increase of 18 percent in the national child poverty rate between 2000 and 2009 (from 17 percent to 20 percent). This increase indicates 2.5 million additional American children lived below the federal poverty line in 2009 compared with 2000, a fact that effectively wipes out the economic and social gains of the 1990s. The report's data show that these improvements were stalling even before the economic downturn began.
With its focus on how states have fared since the recession, the 2011 Data Book introduces two new indicators to its lineup: unemployment and foreclosure, issues that are also addressed in this year's slogan, "America's Children, America's Challenge: Promoting Opportunity for the Next Generation." Home foreclosure for a family means the loss of a permanent home. Homeownership is associated with improved cognitive development in school-age children, as well as increased graduation rates. Until the housing market meltdown, homeownership was one of the most reliable ways for lower-income families to build assets.
In 2010, 11 percent of American children had at least one unemployed parent, and 4 percent lived in a household that had entered foreclosure since 2007. Against that backdrop, Montana has weathered the recession comparatively well: 8 percent of Montana children have at least one unemployed parent, and only 2 percent have been affected by foreclosure since 2007.
Overall, Montana is ranked 33rd among the 50 states in terms of child well-being. The rankings, which are published annually by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, are computed based on 10 indicators, which also include infant mortality, child poverty and idle youth, in addition to the unemployment and foreclosure data already mentioned.
To achieve the ranking of 33rd, Montana has exhibited values for the various indicators that are sometimes above and sometimes below national averages. Of those that are below the national average, a few in particular stand out.
• Idle Youth: In 2009, 9 percent of Montana teens age 16-19 were not in school and were not high school graduates (46 other states were doing better). Eleven percent were not attending school and not working (39 other states were doing better).
• Child and Teen Death Rates: While the death rates for both age groups were significantly lower in 2007 than in 2000, these rates are still very high in Montana. It's ranked 45th, with only five other states doing worse.
However, there are four areas where Montana performs equal to or better than the national average.
• Infant Mortality Rate: Despite facing a slight increase between 2000 and 2008, Montana's infant mortality rate was still better than 34 other states.
• Babies Born at Low Birthweight: There has been an increase in the percent of babies born at low birthweight in Montana between 2000 and 2008, but the state's rates were still lower than the national average. Only 17 other states had lower rates.
• Single-Parent Families: While the portion of Montana children living in single-parent families went from one-quarter in 2000 to almost one-third in 2009, we still have proportionally more two-parent families in Montana than in 31 other states.
• Teen Birth Rate: Montana's teen birth rate ranks 25th among the 50 states, at 41 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19. This rate is equal to the national average, but it is up 11 percent since 2000.
Montana has slipped in the national rankings of child well-being, from 21st in 2000 to 34th in 2003 and 2004, to 33rd in 2011. While rankings are not accurate measures of one state's performance over time, they indicate which states are near the top, and which states are near the bottom. Over the course of 12 years, Montana's overall child well-being went from the middle to closer to the bottom.
By comparison, all our immediate neighbors rank higher than us: North Dakota is ranked 10th, South Dakota is 21st, Idaho is ranked 22nd, and Wyoming is 28th. For perspective, Mississippi has been ranked 50th every year since 2000, while New Hampshire has been ranked first for 11 of the last 12 years. It would appear that we have some things to learn, if not from New Hampshire, then at least from North Dakota.
Thale Dillon is director of Montana Kids Count.

Read more: http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_f0b76f8a-d56e-11e0-a965-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1WoHxR3bF

Debunking the Myth that the Poor Don't Pay Taxes

The New Resentment of the Poor

August 31, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/opinion/the-new-resentment-of-the-poor.html?_r=1&hp

In a decade of frenzied tax-cutting for the rich, the Republican Party just happened to lower tax rates for the poor, as well. Now several of the party’s most prominent presidential candidates and lawmakers want to correct that oversight and raise taxes on the poor and the working class, while protecting the rich, of course.

These Republican leaders, who think nothing of widening tax loopholes for corporations and multimillion-dollar estates, are offended by the idea that people making less than $40,000 might benefit from the progressive tax code. They are infuriated by the earned income tax credit (the pride of Ronald Reagan), which has become the biggest and most effective antipoverty program by giving working families thousands of dollars a year in tax refunds. They scoff at continuing President Obama’s payroll tax cut, which is tilted toward low- and middle-income workers and expires in December.

Until fairly recently, Republicans, at least, have been fairly consistent in their position that tax cuts should benefit everyone. Though the Bush tax cuts were primarily for the rich, they did lower rates for almost all taxpayers, providing a veneer of egalitarianism. Then the recession pushed down incomes severely, many below the minimum income tax level, and the stimulus act lowered that level further with new tax cuts. The number of families not paying income tax has risen from about 30 percent before the recession to about half, and, suddenly, Republicans have a new tool to stoke class resentment.

Representative Michele Bachmann noted recently that 47 percent of Americans do not pay federal income tax; all of them, she said, should pay something because they benefit from parks, roads and national security. (Interesting that she acknowledged government has a purpose.) Gov. Rick Perry, in the announcement of his candidacy, said he was dismayed at the “injustice” that nearly half of Americans do not pay income tax. Jon Huntsman Jr., up to now the most reasonable in the Republican presidential field, said not enough Americans pay tax.

Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, and several senators have made similar arguments, variations of the idea expressed earlier by Senator Dan Coats of Indiana that “everyone needs to have some skin in the game.”

This is factually wrong, economically wrong and morally wrong. First, the facts: a vast majority of Americans have skin in the tax game. Even if they earn too little to qualify for the income tax, they pay payroll taxes (which Republicans want to raise), gasoline excise taxes and state and local taxes. Only 14 percent of households pay neither income nor payroll taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institution. The poorest fifth paid an average of 16.3 percent of income in taxes in 2010.

Economically, reducing the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit — which would be required if everyone paid income taxes — makes no sense at a time of high unemployment. The credits, which only go to working people, have always been a strong incentive to work, as even some conservative economists say, and have increased the labor force while reducing the welfare rolls.

The moral argument would have been obvious before this polarized year. Nearly 90 percent of the families that paid no income tax make less than $40,000, most much less. The real problem is that so many Americans are struggling on such a small income, not whether they pay taxes. The two tax credits lifted 7.2 million people out of poverty in 2009, including four million children. At a time when high-income households are paying their lowest share of federal taxes in decades, when corporations frequently avoid paying any tax, it is clear who should bear a larger burden and who should not.

The KIDS COUNT Data Center is now mobile!

The KIDS COUNT Data Center, your one-stop-shop for data on children and families in Montana and in the US, now has a mobile site. By accessing it at http://mobile.kidscount.org, you will have all the data you need through your smart phone!