Fwd: Vaccinations’ benefits proved; enforce the law

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**Vaccinations & rsquo; benefits proved; enforce the law**

By Mike King

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/opinion/stories/2008/10/29/vaccinesed.html

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Unfounded fears about vaccines are causing too many parents to forgo

getting the shots their children need to stay healthy and not spread

dangerous diseases among their playmates.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month that

measles cases in the United States had reached the highest level in

more than a decade, an alarming rise in a disease thought to be

eliminated in the United States eight years ago. The spike is

directly linked to parents refusing to get their children inoculated

against the easily spread disease.

In the first six months of the year, measles outbreaks have sickened

131 children in 15 states, sending more than a dozen youngsters to

the hospital for treatment. Virtually all of the children were

home-schooled, the CDC

<http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/index.html?cxntlid=linkr> said,

and thus had no proof of their immunization status as would be

required in public schools.

Even in public schools, those requirements are too often ignored.

According to a Spotlight report in Sunday & rsquo;s Atlanta

Journal-Constitution, many metro Atlanta school districts and health

departments do not require immunization proof when children are

enrolled. Reporter Alison Young found that 99 elementary schools and

81 middle schools in metro Atlanta failed to meet the state & rsquo;s

minimum requirement that 90 percent of their students have

vaccination records showing they are up-to-date on the shots needed

to prevent the spread of communicable childhood diseases. Fewer than

half of students in some Atlanta and Fulton County schools have proof

of proper vaccinations.

Parents fail to get their children inoculated for a variety of

reasons: ignorance of the requirement; concern over how much it will

cost; misunderstanding that for the vaccine to be effective against

some diseases, children must get follow-up shots. But public health

departments will provide information as well as the vaccines for any

child, regardless of ability to pay.

More problematic are the parents who willfully ignore the

requirement, substituting their judgment for that of experts who must

guard the public health. In New Jersey, the state Legislature is being

asked to approve a bill that would allow parents to opt out of

mandatory vaccine requirements. The measure was prompted by a new

requirement in New Jersey & mdash;- the first in the nation & mdash;-

that pre-schoolers get annual flu shots.

The parental blow-back on vaccines began a decade ago when a study

purportedly showed that a mercury-based preservative in the measles,

mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was in some way linked to a group of

autistic children who had developed gastrointestinal problems. The

preservative was removed from the manufacturing process for vaccines,

and numerous, large and well-documented scientific studies since then

have failed to show any evidence of a link to autism. Earlier this

year, scientists also tried but failed to replicate the original 1998

study allegedly linking vaccines and autism.

Nevertheless, fears about tainted vaccines are still pervasive on the

Internet, where parents are subjected to heart-rendering anecdotal

stories about unexplained autism in children. A handful of celebrity

parents of autistic children have also raised the issue and garnered

disproportionate attention to the cause.

Unfortunately, there is no clear explanation why the rate of autism

has risen in recent years. Many scientists believe it is the result

of more vigilant observation among parents and pediatricians and

earlier testing among children. Others point out that the range of

symptoms defined as autism & mdash;- both behavioral and physical

& mdash;- has greatly expanded, which in turn has resulted in more

children being diagnosed with the condition or some variation of it.

However, the anti-vaccine crowd & rsquo;s call for

& ldquo;caution & rdquo; in allowing parents to decide for themselves

whether their children should be inoculated is risky business.

Certainly, public health authorities should have the ability to

require vaccines for children attending public schools, which serve

as the primary vector for disease outbreaks.

The influenza vaccine debate in New Jersey offers an example. The CDC

<http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/index.html?cxntlid=linkr> and

public health experts have recommended in recent years that yearly

flu shots be given to all children six months to 5 years of age. That

means that pre-schoolers and children in daycare should be getting it,

which is what prompted New Jersey & rsquo;s requirement.

Each year, some 20,000 children in that age group are stricken with

influenza; about 100 of them die. The flu generally strikes earlier

and harder in children, whose immune systems are weaker than those of

adults. Young children also are much more likely to spread the virus

to their family, teachers and caregivers. If the disease is

suppressed in children, it will not gain a foothold and likely

decline among adults as well.

New Jersey, like Georgia and most other states, already allows

children to be exempted from vaccine requirements if their parents

have religious objections or if there is a legitimate medical reason.

The bill in the New Jersey Legislature would allow parents a

& ldquo;conscientious exemption & rdquo; as long as they swear they have

& ldquo;sincerely held & rdquo; objections to immunizations.

No doubt many parents have sincerely held beliefs, but allowing them

to opt out of vaccination puts the lives of their children at risk as

well as the lives of others.

Vaccinations for infectious childhood diseases are one of the

greatest accomplishments of medical science, saving millions of lives

annually. But their effectiveness is directly linked to coverage that

is as universal as possible.

The vaccine-autism link has been thoroughly debunked. States should

not back off mandatory vaccination laws, and local school districts

and health departments should do a better job of enforcing

compliance.

& mdash;- Mike King, for the editorial board (mking@...).

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