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PAGE 12B
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016
Study says politics influence
vaccination, disease rates
Manning the radio
James T. King was one of the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club’s Field Day
participants this weekend. The annual 24-hour event was held at the Hoschton
Depot.
'Hams' showcase radio
emergency capabilities
An 'emergency' radio station
Local amateur radio operators connected with
other groups throughout the country this week
end. Participants learn about operating radios in
“less than optimal conditions,” using only emer
gency power supplies, such as batteries, genera
tors and solar power. This year’s event was held at
the Hoschton Depot and the grounds outside the
building were lined with generators, solar collec
tors and this temporary antenna.
Local amateur radio
operators connected with
other groups throughout
the country lalst weekend.
The Tri-County Amateur
Radio Club participated in
this year’s Field Day on June
25-26, a 24-hour event spon
sored by the American Radio
Relay League.
Known as “hams,” these
amateur hobbyists from
Jackson, Barrow and Hall
counties competed with oth
ers throughout the country
to “work as many stations
as possible on any and all
amateur bands.” No awards
are given, but Tri-County club
member Mark Allman said
the event does spark com
petition.
Participants learn about
operating radios in “less than
optimal conditions,” using
only emergency power sup
plies, such as batteries, gen
erators and solar power.
This year, the Tri-County
Amateur Radio Club con
structed its “emergency
station” at the Hoschton
Depot.
On the grounds around
the building sat genera
tors, solar collectors and
temporary antenna. Inside,
the Tri-County group con
nected with other operators
using voice, morse code,
satellites and various digital
modes.
“Not only is this an exer
cise in emergency communi
cations but it is also a chance
to demonstrate to the public
how Amateur Radio works
under less than desirable
conditions,” said Michael
Wolcott, W4WYI, president
of the Tri County Amateur
Radio Club, based in Bra-
selton. “We can use voice,
morse code, satellites, and
various digital modes to get
the message delivered any
where in the world, and
many times, Hams are the
only source of communica
tions during the initial hours
of a disaster.”
Field Day is held each year
on the last weekend in June.
To learn more about Ama
teur Radio, visit www.emer-
gency-radio.org. For field
day information, visit http://
www.arrl.org/field-day.
Tri-County Radio Club
The Tri-County Amateur
Radio Club is open to ama
teur radio operators and
enthusiasts in parts of Bar-
row, Gwinnett, Hall and Jack-
son counties.
The club welcomes par
ticipants including those
licensed for decades, newly
licensed, recently upgraded,
unlicensed or just getting
back into the hobby.
The club was formed in
2009 and has averaged 35-40
members each year since
then.
For more information
on the Tri-County Amateur
Radio Club, visit http://www.
tricountyarc.com.
Lax state vaccination laws
contribute to lower immuni
zation rates and increased
outbreaks of preventable dis
eases — like whooping cough
and measles -according to a
recent study from the Univer
sity of Georgia.
Through their research,
released in the August, 2015,
issue of the journal Health
Affairs, study authors David
Bradford and Anne Mandich
found higher rates of pertus
sis, or whooping cough, in
states that allowed philosoph
ical exemptions and used
a standardized exemption
form.
Vaccination exemption
rates have increased drastical
ly in the past 10 years, accord
ing to the study, due largely
to religious and philosophical
reasons, which fall under the
nonmedical exemption cate
gory. All but three states allow
exemptions based on reli
gious reasons. Only 17 allow
philosophical exemptions.
And 39 states use a standard
ized exemption form.
“We are seeing a significant
association between pertussis
rates and vaccination exemp
tion,” said Bradford, who is
the Busbee Chair in Public
Policy in the UGA School
of Public and International
Affairs. “States with stricter
policies have lower pertussis
rates, which shows that pol
icymakers do have it within
their power to further limit the
spread of these diseases.”
Pertussis was used as the
foundation for the study
which relied on kindergar
ten exemption data collected
by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in its
2002-12 annual school assess
ment reports, “for the unfor
tunate reason that pertussis
is more common,” Bradford
said. About 48,000 cases were
recorded in the U.S. in 2012.
An average year sees between
45,000 and 50,000 cases. In
contrast, the CDC recorded
an average of 60 cases of
measles per year from 2001
to 2012.
The study found three key
policies that lower whooping
cough rates: requiring state
health department approval
for nonmedical vaccination
exemptions; allowing exemp
tion from only specific vac
cines instead of all vaccines;
and levying criminal and civil
punishment against those
who do not comply with vac
cination policies.
As they conducted the
research, the authors were
able to rank states by their
policies and whether they
were most, somewhat, less or
least effective.
The nine with the least
effective laws are Colorado,
Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota,
Texas, Utah, Vermont, Wash
ington and Wisconsin.
The study also found three
outliers that don’t make any
of the lists. Mississippi, West
Virginia and, as of the end
of June, California have the
strictest vaccination laws in
the nation. Currently the first
two have the lowest rates of
whooping cough due to poli
cies that allow immunization
exemptions for medical rea
sons only.
“I’m originally from Missis
sippi, and this was a case
where they really led the
country” with their vaccina
tion exemption policies, Brad
ford said.
Georgia falls into the
“somewhat effective” cate
gory. Other states with this
ranking include Oregon, Vir
ginia and Arizona. To improve
Georgia’s standing, he said,
the state “could eliminate
religious exemptions and not
use the standardized form.”
On the plus side, he added,
“in 2012, we had very low
rates of pertussis, ranking fifth
nationally.”
In its favor, Georgia does
not allow exemptions for phil
osophical reasons.
“Back in 2007, the actress
Jenny McCarthy went on
‘Oprah’ and espoused
the view that there is link
between the MMR vaccine
and autism,” he said. “This
led to a significant increase
in philosophical exemptions.”
In states with a philosophi
cal exemption, it’s also easier
for parents to check a box
indicating objection instead of
rushing their children to be
vaccinated before the begin
ning of the school year, the
study noted.
As the number of people
vaccinated has decreased,
diseases once mostly elim
inated from the U.S. have
risen because the population
no longer has “herd immu
nity.” Herd immunity means
a community is protected
because enough people have
been immunized.
“We need to be over 95 per
cent vaccinated to reach herd
immunity,” Bradford said.
“For medical reasons, there a
number of people who can’t
get vaccinated. If you can be
vaccinated and are not, that’s
when we start to see whoop
ing cough and measles cases
rise.”
NOT READY FOR
ANOTHER ONE?
Learn a foreign language with
Mango and a library card
Piedmont Regional
Library System director
Beth McIntyre reports that
its Mango Languages online
language-learning system is
growing in popularity.
Mango is free for all library
patrons and can be accessed
anywhere with an Internet
connection. Each lesson
combines real life situa
tions and audio from native
speakers with simple, clear
instructions. The courses
are presented with an appre
ciation for cultural nuance
and real-world application by
focusing on the four key ele
ments of language learning:
vocabulary, pronunciation,
grammar, and culture.
Mango offers access to
60 foreign language courses
and 17 English courses taught
completely in the user’s
native language. Some cours
es are just for fun, like “Talk
Like a Pirate.” Each month, a
specific language is highlight
ed. Mango can be accessed
at the library, remotely, or
even on-the-go with apps for
iPhone, Android, Kindle and
Nook
“We are so proud of our
patrons,” McIntyre said.
“Since we joined the grow
ing list of libraries across the
country that offer Mango,
statistics show our patrons
at the top of the activity list.
Some people need to learn
a second language for busi
ness or travel. Others want
to learn for personal or pro
fessional development. No
matter the reason, learning a
language should be fun. With
Mango, it definitely is.”
PLEASE
RECYCLE THIS
NEWSPAPER
To learn more about
Mango, stop by any library
in Banks, Barrow or Jack-
son counties, and ask for
an introduction. Library card
holders can access Mango
free through the library web
site at prlib.org.
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