Off the news: Surprising number of keiki unvaccinated

First came news last Tuesday that Hawaii has confirmed its first measles case in years, of an unvaccinat- ed 5-year-old who had traveled out of country. That touched off urgency from state officials to urge immunizations against the very-contagious disease.

Then a Friday article revealed some shockingly high rates of overall unvaccinated (not just against measles) in some Hawaii schools: 100% at St. Catherine School on Kauai, 97.7% at Life Legacy Academy in Honolulu, 69.48% at Waianae Intermediate School, 65.3% at Konawaena Middle School. For the sake of the keiki, and our communities, please get the preventive medicine — vaccines.