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Mother's acquittal ignites vaccine debate

Health Ministry pushes to make vaccinations mandatory for children

Posted: January 19, 2011

By Klára Jiøièná - Staff Writer | Comments (2) | Post comment

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Jasenèuková was acquitted Jan. 13 of charges of endangering her children's health after refusing to have her son vaccinated.

The inherent tension between the public good and personal freedom is in focus after a mother was acquitted Jan. 13 on charges of endangering her children's health after declining to vaccinate one infant daughter or to allow her 3-year-old to receive a booster shot.

Jasenèuková told The Prague Post the ruling is "a personal victory" over standard vaccination practices that she considers potentially harmful.

The ruling, made by the district court in Kromìøíž, south Moravia, comes in the wake of a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) from last summer that ruled parents cannot be sanctioned for declining vaccinations for their children.

"I perceive this as a personal victory. But it wasn't my arguments that swayed the court; the decision was made based on the prior NSS verdict," Jasenèuková told The Prague Post.

Jasenèuková, who had faced up to two years in prison and probation before her acquittal, said she had "a number of good reasons for not having [her] children vaccinated."

"I have no information that vaccinations are vitally important or that they save lives. I've read on the Internet that in countries where children are vaccinated, one in 175 is likely to become autistic," she said. "My final decision was based on a discussion with the healer , who confirmed to me that anything synthetic is harmful because it damages the nervous system of a child."

is a Santa , California, based "spiritual scientist" whose website claims she experienced a "Starseed Awakening to perceive multidimensional realities and communication with Evolutionary forces of Light."

Pediatrician Hana Cabrnochová, vice chairwoman of the Czech Vaccination Society and a member of the National Immunization Commission (NIKO), calls the decision not to vaccinate a child a "huge risk."

"Parents sometimes rely on the advice of pseudo-experts, and the source of information is simply not very reliable," she said.

Public health experts cite the need to keep immunization levels above 90 percent in order to maintain so-called herd immunity, which, by creating immunity within a significant part of the population, serves to protect even those who aren't immunized. The rate of immunization required to virtually eradicate measles, for example, is between 83 percent and 94 percent, according to the World Health Organization.

The Health Ministry is pushing to maintain the current vaccination levels of 95 percent and is preparing an amendment to the law on public health that would make it possible to punish parents who fail to vaccinate their children against nine diseases: tetanus, whooping cough, polio, Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type B, measles, diphtheria, mumps and rubella.

"If the vaccination coverage profoundly decreased due to vaccination rejections in states using the voluntary principle, collective immunity could be broken, and infections would spread," said Vlastimil Sršeò, a ministry spokesman.

'Elaborate fraud'

The debate mirrors one that has taken place in several other countries in recent years.

In May 2010, UK-based doctor Wakefield was stripped of his right to practice medicine after he was found to have fabricated much of the evidence in a series of articles published in 1998 in the medical journal The Lancet.

The articles and their viral spread through the tabloid press sparked fears there was a connection between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and instances of autism. Parents began to decline immunizing their children in droves. This led to increased infections of measles, to the point that British health authorities declared it an "epidemic" in 2008. Earlier this month, a 6-million-word report on the situation by the British Medical Journal determined that Wakefield's study was not only flawed but was an "elaborate fraud."

Wakefield has since relocated to the United States, where a similar debate has emerged.

Celebrities McCarthy and Jim Carrey have become advocates of the anti-vaccination movement, and there have been measles outbreaks in California, New York, Wisconsin and other states in recent years. Last year, whooping cough occurred in California more often than in any year since 1947, resulting in 10 deaths among infants.

Cabrnochová cited recent measles outbreaks in Austria and a croup epidemic in the United Kingdom as examples of where the failure to immunize children has a major effect.

Petr Marák, the judge who delivered the verdict in Kromìøíž pointed to a specifically legal rationale behind his decision.

"We had to respect the NSS decision, namely that in an administrative procedure, a sanction cannot be imposed," he told The Prague Post. "There is evidently a legislative loophole, and so far no one can be held liable." At present, vaccination is required by a ministry ordinance, not by law.

The Health Ministry is seeking to close this loophole with its proposed changes to the law. While vaccinations against nine diseases are already mandated in the ordinance, the changes would impose penalties against those who fail to immunize their children - a common practice in the form of a 10,000 Kè fine before the NSS ruling.

Jasenèuková insists that in much of Europe, vaccinations are only recommended, not required.

"The law on public health should not enforce wall-to-wall vaccinating without respecting the individuality of parents who want to make independent decisions and who feel responsible for the health of their children," she said.

The Czech Republic requires more vaccinations than elsewhere in Europe. France has mandatory vaccines for three diseases, Belgium only one and Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom and Ireland have none.

However, many countries where vaccinations are not mandatory have different means of encouraging parents to go through with them. In the United States, certain vaccinations are a pre-condition for attending public schools.

Cabrnochová sees such indirect sanctions as a possible solution, but also points to certain limitations.

"Vaccinations are a condition for entering nurseries here; however, this doesn't apply to schools or private nurseries," she said.

Jasenèuková pointed to the outcry last year accompanying the swine-flu vaccine as evidence of how easily the public is manipulated.

"Fortunately, sanity prevailed, and people did not let themselves be driven in herds to the public-health stations," she said.

Záhumenský, chairman of the League of Human Rights (LLP), represented Jasenèuková in her case. Záhumenský and LLP say authorities should avoid strict regulations and focus instead on providing patients with information about diseases and vaccinations. He criticized pediatricians for failing to inform parents on the possible side effects of vaccines.

"Police and prosecutors have foremost erred in the qualification of avoiding vaccinations, because it is only a misdemeanor," he said.

Public health experts remain convinced vaccinations are essential.

"There are debates about whether vaccinations jeopardize children's health," Cabrnochová said. "But whereas previously tens, hundreds or even thousands of children a year used to die of severe diseases, death as a result of severe complications following vaccination occurs once out of every 3 million doses.

"It also seems some of the side effects are caused by different things, including allergic reactions based on the quality and purity of the vaccines," she said.

And still, other experts insist the whole point of vaccinations is to protect the health of not only individuals, but of the community.

"Individual decisions about oneself cannot be emphasized over the interest of the whole," said Roman Prymula, chairman of the Czech Vaccination Society and NIKO member.

"We do not believe a mandatory vaccination is against the basic Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, because some sections of the charter allow it, and this is necessary for many public health measures."

Klára Jiøièná can be reached atkjiricna@...