5 ms·

Very Low Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Daycares

23 points by chriskanan 12y ago

chriskanan 12y ago
I wonder why the measles vaccination rate for Oracle is so high (~99%). Is the culture of the parents at Oracle that different from Pixar (~68%)? I wonder if there was a localized anti-vaccine movement at Pixar. Pixar has a relatively small number of employees (1,200) compared to Oracle (122,000), so their daycare is probably a lot smaller and the parents with kids attending the Pixar daycare are much more likely to know each other. So, a few parents spreading anti-vaccination philosophy could have a larger influence over the decision to vaccinate.
- wcfields 12y ago
  Having no knowledge of either company beyond my own impressions I'd recon that Oracle is more "old-guard" employees in a much more collared shirt/blouse & khaki environment; while Pixar might lend to sneakers and t-shirts. Plus, again, having no knowledge, Oracle might have a section of people with Top Secret clearance, further lending to more faith into the 'establishment'.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Of 12 day care facilities affiliated with tech companies, six—that’s half—have below-average vaccination rates, according to the state’s data. Um, "half of the ones we looked at are below average" is exactly what you'd expect with a normal (or any symmetric, really) distribution. They also assert there is a 92 percent immunization threshold for herd immunity for measles, and note that half are below that level -- which is a legitimate grounds for some concern -- but then go on and compare immunization levels for other diseases to that 92 percent threshold, without any discussion of why. And deep in the article we find the response from Google that explains why the current-year numbers are unreliable -- they reflect the share of total enrollees that have provided documentation of meeting vaccination requirements, so the fact that documentation from parents is incomplete for the current year results in understatement of the current rates. A better headline than Wired's "The Sickeningly Low Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Day Cares" might be "The Sickeningly Shoddy Journalism on Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Day Cares at Wired".
- prawn 12y ago
  Um, "half of the ones we looked at are below average" is exactly what you'd expect with a normal (or any symmetric, really) distribution. I might be missing something, but aren't they comparing half of the tech day-care centres with the average data of centres across the state (broader than tech)? e.g., you might expect that all of the tech centres (smartish parents in forward-thinking industries) were above average?
  - dragonwriter 12y ago
    > you might expect that all of the tech centres (smartish parents in forward-thinking industries) were above average That might be a hypothesis worth exploring, but I think many people in tech overestimate both how well-informed and forward thinking they are and, even moreso, how well-informed and forward thinking the industry in general is outside of their own personal (or, in the latter case, the industry's defining) area of focus.
OneOneOneOne 12y ago
I wonder if the reported numbers are inaccurate. Some families may withhold immunization records for privacy where possible. Oracle may have a stricter policy regarding immunization.

23 points by chriskanan 12y ago

I wonder why the measles vaccination rate for Oracle is so high (~99%). Is the culture of the parents at Oracle that different from Pixar (~68%)? I wonder if there was a localized anti-vaccine movement at Pixar. Pixar has a relatively small number of employees (1,200) compared to Oracle (122,000), so their daycare is probably a lot smaller and the parents with kids attending the Pixar daycare are much more likely to know each other. So, a few parents spreading anti-vaccination philosophy could have a larger influence over the decision to vaccinate.

wcfields 12y ago
Having no knowledge of either company beyond my own impressions I'd recon that Oracle is more "old-guard" employees in a much more collared shirt/blouse & khaki environment; while Pixar might lend to sneakers and t-shirts. Plus, again, having no knowledge, Oracle might have a section of people with Top Secret clearance, further lending to more faith into the 'establishment'.

dragonwriter 12y ago

> Of 12 day care facilities affiliated with tech companies, six—that’s half—have below-average vaccination rates, according to the state’s data. Um, "half of the ones we looked at are below average" is exactly what you'd expect with a normal (or any symmetric, really) distribution. They also assert there is a 92 percent immunization threshold for herd immunity for measles, and note that half are below that level -- which is a legitimate grounds for some concern -- but then go on and compare immunization levels for other diseases to that 92 percent threshold, without any discussion of why. And deep in the article we find the response from Google that explains why the current-year numbers are unreliable -- they reflect the share of total enrollees that have provided documentation of meeting vaccination requirements, so the fact that documentation from parents is incomplete for the current year results in understatement of the current rates. A better headline than Wired's "The Sickeningly Low Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Day Cares" might be "The Sickeningly Shoddy Journalism on Vaccination Rates at Silicon Valley Day Cares at Wired".

prawn 12y ago
Um, "half of the ones we looked at are below average" is exactly what you'd expect with a normal (or any symmetric, really) distribution. I might be missing something, but aren't they comparing half of the tech day-care centres with the average data of centres across the state (broader than tech)? e.g., you might expect that all of the tech centres (smartish parents in forward-thinking industries) were above average?
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > you might expect that all of the tech centres (smartish parents in forward-thinking industries) were above average That might be a hypothesis worth exploring, but I think many people in tech overestimate both how well-informed and forward thinking they are and, even moreso, how well-informed and forward thinking the industry in general is outside of their own personal (or, in the latter case, the industry's defining) area of focus.

OneOneOneOne 12y ago

I wonder if the reported numbers are inaccurate. Some families may withhold immunization records for privacy where possible. Oracle may have a stricter policy regarding immunization.