Start here Under-vaccinated kids fall through the cracks By Lauren M. Whaley AND A PARTNER?? , CHCF Center for Health Reporting To prepare for their five- (and soon to be five) year-olds for the first day of school, parents may lay out clothes the night before, pack backpacks and steel themselves for teary goodbyes. They’re also supposed to have made sure their kids are up to date on all state-required vaccinations. But about six percent of the state’s half million kindergarteners won’t have all their shots when they file into class. These undervaccinated students, who in some schools make up to more than half of the entering class, are different from children whose parents who excuse them entirely from vaccinations due to medical issues or personal beliefs. These undervaccinated children can attend school on a “conditional” basis — with the promise to get fully vaccinated soon. Some counties are more concerned than others. “When I saw that our kindergarten immunization rates were lower than the state average., [I said,] ‘What’s going on? This is no good.’” said Amy Pine, director of the Immunization Program for the Alameda County Public Health Department. She thought the rates had to do with the high number of exemptions due to personal beliefs. She was wrong. “We have a conditional entrant problem here,” she said. “I’ve told people here I want to make this my mission.” Last school year, Alameda had a 9.05 percent of students that entered kindergarten on a conditional
Between 1924 and 2013, vaccinations prevented 103 million cases of polio, measles, rubella, mumps, hepatitis A, diphtheria, and pertussis (Bailey). Vaccinating is “the process by which pathogenic cells are injected into a healthy person in an attempt to cause the body to develop antibodies to a particular virus or bacterium—successful creation of antibodies is referred to as immunity to the disease caused by the particular pathogen” (Introduction to Should Vaccinations be Mandatory). Popular conflicts regarding vaccination include the worry that this form of immunization isn’t natural, the idea that vaccination schedule for children in the U.S. takes away parents’ rights to make decisions for their children, and the concern that vaccinations aren’t safe for all children. Most doctors and scientists advocate for vaccinations in the name of herd immunity, protection against foreign diseases and prevention against pockets of disease outbreaks. Vaccinations should be mandatory for all children in the United States for who they are deemed safe and effective.
While it is convenient for someone with insurance to afford for their child to receive all of their vaccinations, some caretakers must decide between paying for vaccinations or buying other items. In this scenario, it is not beneficial to follow a schedule because it is more important to purchase necessities such as food. A vaccination schedule is not beneficial to a child if an adverse reaction occurs, such as an allergic reaction. The gamble with a child receiving multiple vaccinations at once is that if there is an allergic reaction, it can be difficult to tell what the child had a reaction to. Some caregivers prefer to avoid the scenario above by not giving multiple vaccinations at once. With the compression of the vaccination schedule, a child receiving one vaccine at a time may not meet school criteria for enrollment. The caregiver’s actions are to protect the child’s health, but in turn they are in a scenario where they must compromise. The caregiver must choose what they view as more important, their child’s health or
Although the negative claims behind anti-immunization stances are deceptive and discredited, some parents find it difficult to accept that vaccines are necessary and safe. Many of these reasons are due to personal or religious beliefs that have persuaded parents to bypass immunizations for their children. Consequently, health officials are seeing disquieting rises of diseases that are easily preventable. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported hundreds of measles cases in the United States in 2011, the largest number in 15 years (Ben-Joseph, Elana). Essentially, almost all of these cases were in individuals who had not received a vaccine shot. Also found in the article was that a great amount of the quarrel over the shots comes from a 1998 study that tried to connect autism to a type of vaccine that defends against measles. However, there has been no scientific evidence that a vaccine or a combination of any of the shots induces autism. Undoubtedly, the doctor that wrote the article, calling vaccines a “deliberate fraud” ,lost his license for not submitting any evidence of his claim and causing people to neglect shots for that year. Sadly, due to that article, 1 in 4 parents still believe that vaccines are
The state of Florida has a selection of laws in place regulating vaccinations and vaccination exemptions, but what drives them? Vaccines against meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis are mandatory for enrollment in the K-20 public education system. An individual enrolled in any postsecondary institution who will be residing in on campus housing must provide documentation of these vaccinations. A majority of parents argue that its unethical to force someone else’s child to be immunized, in any situation. There is a request that can be made for religious requirements, and must be presented to the facility or school on the Department of Health’s Religious Exemption from Immunization form -DH 681 Form-. The DH 681 Form is issued by county health departments and is only for a child who is not immunized because of their family’s religious practices. (nvic.org) The vast majority of parents are so strongly opinionated on whether vaccinations will positively or negatively impact their children, but no one takes into consideration the parents who differ in opinions themselves.
I am passionate about this issues. I have worked as an immunization nurse for several years in the state of Maryland. In Maryland there are strict requirements for vaccinating children for school entry. I worked for Prince George’s County and Baltimore County Health Department. In the state of Maryland many children each year are out compliance and therefore are not allowed to attend school until the requirements are satisfied.
In any case, a parent or guardian’s child is their number one priority. Across the nation, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, and younger relatives are adored and loved by their family. Most will receive vaccines, but a few will not. Despite the families’ differing points of view, they all have one something in common: the children all attend school. There is an immense risk when allowing unvaccinated children to attend the nation’s schools. Two authors of a recently read article can further support the claim. “We found that unvaccinated
Parents are bombarded with information when it comes to their children and their children’s health and it happens the moment they are born. One main question they face off the bat is whether to immunize or not. For children ages 0-18, the CDC recommends vaccinations against 16 diseases, many of which could result in devastating illnesses and even death. Several injections coupled with several possibilities of severe reactions, pain, irritation, itching, ect. But through extensive, heavily monitored research and effectiveness, and evidence-based science illustrating the improvements and protection of the community it is clear that their benefits outweigh their risks. This paper will outline why the decision to immunize is one less
Since the outbreak of measles in 2000, an increasing number of parents have refuse to get their child vaccinated. The majority of parents refuse to follow the vaccination schedule and requesting to receive a schedule differ than that of the American Academy of Pediatric. Only a small number of parents refuse to allow their children to receive all vaccinations. Some even want their children to only receive a certain number of vaccination (Hendrix, 2015).
In the 1850s the first school vaccination requirement were enacted to prevent smallpox. Federal and state efforts to eradicate measles in the 1960s and 1970s motivated many to mandate policies. By the 1990s, all 50 states requirement for children to be enrolled in school must receive certain immunizations and if these requirements were not met than children were not allowed to be enrolled in school (Center for Disease Control Prevention, 2010). For example, in the state of California, private public school or daycare cannot admit children unless vaccinations were received for all ten of the diseases. If the California Department of Public Health implements a requirement for vaccination parent can be allowed to obtain personal belief exemptions that would allow parents to opt out of vaccination for their children if form is filled out by healthcare professional that states vaccinations were countered to personal beliefs. This law has not been implemented as of yet but should be in 2016. The healthcare of policy decision in laws can have an influence on individuals based on the decision that are made. Health care policy and issues can affect providers and patients in many different ways. Stakeholders’ in the policymakers for vaccination main concern is the safety and health of children so the implement exemptions of laws from concern about vaccine
Often debated, with strong convictions on each side, timely immunizations for children do more good then harm. Over the last few years, a phenomenon has come to our door steps. It used to be that all parents would immunize their children, without fail, because doctors told them to. In the past, the only non-immunized children were the children with health deficiencies. These children depended on the “herd” mentality. However, times are changing and parents are choosing to not immunize their children mainly based on these reasons: the possibility of them getting autism, parental lack of education about immunizations and lastly they believe that the illnesses that children are being immunized against are gone and immunizations are no longer needed.
Likewise, some people should not receive vaccinations. These individuals should not receive vaccinations due to their age, health conditions, among other factors. These other conditions are independent depending on the type of vaccination received. “They can range from an individual who cannot swallow, to a pregnant woman, to a person with a life-threatening allergy, to a component in the vaccination” (Hales 543). A small percentage of individuals do not respond to a particular vaccine. ”All states provide medical exemptions, and some state laws also offer exemptions for religious and philosophical reasons” (State Vaccination Requirements). “Some religions even prevent certain parents from vaccinating their children because of their belief that the disease is a naturally occurring thing and humans have no right interfering with it” (Hales 544). However, most state laws establish vaccination requirements for school children. These laws apply to public schools, private schools, and day care centers. “State laws also establish mechanisms for enforcement of school vaccination requirements” (State Vaccination Requirement). “Vaccines save
Millions of lives have been saved thanks to a global effort to vaccinate for deadly diseases. Peter Yeo reports “Immunizations have saved more children than any other medical intervention in the last 50 years” (Reforming the U.N. 118). Yet, a new trend for parents is opting out of vaccinating their children for personal beliefs or religious exemptions. Although, the majority of Americans believe vaccines protect children, and conclusive evidence has proven vaccines can prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Still, a few parents believe vaccinating children is not essential for their health, additionally, they believe an increase in mandatory vaccines has insufficient scientific research to prevent serious medical side effects.
When it comes to getting, your kids vaccinated many parents must get it due to the school’s policies. Many schools will not let the student back to school until vaccinated or will kick out a student if they do not get the vaccine. On the other hand, some parents do not believe in getting their kids vaccinated so they do what it takes to not get their kids shots. There’s two sides to this issue that people have opinions on. There is many pros and cons When it comes to getting your kid vaccinated. This topic is very important because it’s a subject that all parents need to know about before doing so. Being a parent is hard and there is no way to go around it. Being that person who will decide their medical
We have all raised our eyebrows when the person sitting the row behind us starts coughing, and not just the “soda went down the wrong pipe” cough, but the real, mucus breaking, uncontrollable hacking. Likewise, many of us have also tried to not get too close to the person with the visibly red, irritated nose and the constant sniffling that comes with the absence of a tissue. As a society, we tend to be conscious of the threat of contracting a disease, but regardless of these common concerns, opposition to mandated vaccinations for school-attending children continue to be raised. The effectiveness and overall safety of vaccines have repeatedly been questioned by society (especially when it comes to vaccinating infants and young children), and some studies have possibly even shown the danger of certain vaccinations. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that vaccines have prevented more disease and have improved the overall health of the United States, and consequently, should—with few exceptions—continue to be mandated in our school system.
Despite vaccinations being credited for the control and elimination of several childhood diseases, there are still many critics who raise concerns about the necessity of vaccination. In a national study of parents performed in 2000, 19% indicated they had “concerns about vaccines” whereas in a subsequent survey performed in 2009 this number had risen to 50%. There has also been a rise in non-medical vaccine exemptions that has occurred over the last several years. In a 2010 national survey of physicians, 89% of respondents reported at least one vaccine refusal by a parent each month (Dempsey & Gowda, 2013). Opposers argue that making school vaccination mandatory is against their right to make personal medical decisions. They feel that the government has no place to force parents to vaccinate their children if the parents decide it is not in their child’s best interest. Many parents are disagreeable about the multiple vaccinations received at one time, which results in possible pain and discomfort for the child. Another argument against vaccination is the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Critics are concerned about the unknown risks vaccines pose to children. Some parents noted their child acquiring a “high fever” or beginning to “act different” after the administration of a vaccine. There is a belief that there is a connection between the measles vaccination and autism. Another theory is that the influenza