School vaccine exemptions put kids at risk

March 31, 2007

So they say..........

By Anne HardingFri Mar 30, 1:46 PM ET

Rules that allow parents to exempt their children from immunization requirements for "philosophical" reasons are putting all kids at risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease, Arkansas researchers warn.

Since 2003, when the state began allowing these exemptions from school vaccine rules, rising numbers of children have been going without immunization, Dr. Joseph W. Thompson of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement in Little Rock and colleagues found.

Arkansas had previously allowed exemption from vaccine requirements for religious or medical reasons, but parents had to belong to a "recognized religion that included tenets against immunization" for the exemption to be allowed, Thompson and colleagues explain in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Parents challenged the law, and a federal court ruled that requiring a religion to be "recognized" was not constitutional. Arkansas now allows religious, philosophical and medical exemptions, which must be renewed annually.

Since the change, Thompson and his team found, the number of exemptions requested by parents has steadily risen, while the percentage of exemptions that are non-medical has made up an increasingly large portion of the total.

For example, in 2001 (when the philosophical exemption was not available) there were 419 religious exemptions and 110 medical exemptions statewide. In 2004-2005, there were 721 philosophical exemptions, 362 religious exemptions, and 62 medical exemptions.

And in the 10 districts with the highest exemption rates, none were medical.

In order for vaccines to be effective, Thompson noted, they must provide an individual with immunity, and they must also provide "herd" immunity by covering a certain percentage of people in the community, estimated to be at least 93 percent for measles, for example.

"Concentrations of children who are not immunized could result in a loss of community-level immunity and ultimately erode public health protection against vaccine-preventable illness," the researchers warn.

"Nationwide we're seeing parents increasingly undervalue the protection that vaccines give because the diseases they have never seen," Thompson said. "When polio affected a child in every school, the polio vaccine was rapidly adopted."

According to Thompson, policymakers and medical professionals need to do a better job of informing parents about the risks and benefits of vaccines. "Just throwing information at them without putting it in the context of what their concerns are probably is not going to be very valuable."

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 2007.

2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

April 1, 2007

I have heard the argument before. It is a contradiction of vaccine proponents philosophies. How are vaccinated kids at risk of getting diseases from un-vaccinated kids? After all, vaccines are supposed to protect them from getting the disease aren't they? This is proof that vaccine proponents really have no faith in the efficacy of vaccines.Jerry AndersonKathy <vanokat wrote: So they say.......... School vaccine exemptions put kids at risk By Anne HardingFri Mar 30, 1:46 PM ET Rules that

allow parents to exempt their children from immunization requirements for "philosophical" reasons are putting all kids at risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease, Arkansas researchers warn. Since 2003, when the state began allowing these exemptions from school vaccine rules, rising numbers of children have been going without immunization, Dr. Joseph W. Thompson of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement in Little Rock and colleagues found. Arkansas had previously allowed exemption from vaccine requirements for religious or medical reasons, but parents had to belong to a "recognized religion that included tenets against immunization" for the exemption to be allowed, Thompson and colleagues explain in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Parents challenged the law, and a federal court ruled that requiring a religion to be "recognized" was not constitutional. Arkansas now allows religious, philosophical and medical

exemptions, which must be renewed annually. Since the change, Thompson and his team found, the number of exemptions requested by parents has steadily risen, while the percentage of exemptions that are non-medical has made up an increasingly large portion of the total. For example, in 2001 (when the philosophical exemption was not available) there were 419 religious exemptions and 110 medical exemptions statewide. In 2004-2005, there were 721 philosophical exemptions, 362 religious exemptions, and 62 medical exemptions. And in the 10 districts with the highest exemption rates, none were medical. In order for vaccines to be effective, Thompson noted, they must provide an individual with immunity, and they must also provide "herd" immunity by covering a certain percentage of people in the community, estimated to be at least 93 percent for measles, for example. "Concentrations of children who are not immunized could result

in a loss of community-level immunity and ultimately erode public health protection against vaccine-preventable illness," the researchers warn. "Nationwide we're seeing parents increasingly undervalue the protection that vaccines give because the diseases they have never seen," Thompson said. "When polio affected a child in every school, the polio vaccine was rapidly adopted." According to Thompson, policymakers and medical professionals need to do a better job of informing parents about the risks and benefits of vaccines. "Just throwing information at them without putting it in the context of what their concerns are probably is not going to be very valuable." SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 2007. 2007

Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Sucker-punch spam with award-winning protection. Try the free Mail Beta.