New back-to-school worry: Unvaccinated classmates

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

"A growing number of children aren't getting required vaccinations for non-medical reasons. What will this new reality bring this school year?

As parents send their children back to school, some are grappling with a new worry: whether their children's classmates have received all their vaccinations.

An outbreak of measles in Texas this week shows why their concern is not without reason. Twenty-one people linked to a megachurch and its congregation have contracted the highly contagious disease, and the case has put a spotlight on falling vaccination rates in the U.S.

Measles was eradicated in the U.S. as of 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but outbreaks like the one in Texas are increasing, as is the percentage of parents choosing not to immunize their children, which has seen an uptick in recent years. Usually, the CDC expects to see 60 cases of measles per year, but there have been 135 cases of measles so far in 2013, and in 2011, more than 220 people were diagnosed with the disease.

This latest outbreak follows a rash of recent measles cases among New York's Orthodox Jewish population and an outbreak in San Diego in 2008."

http://news.msn.com/science-technology/new-back-to-school-worry-unvaccinated-classmates

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I think most people that are against vaccinations or altered vaccinations schedules do it out of ignorance or belief in false science. There has been a sharp rise in children not getting vaccines. The use of various non-medical reasons to opt-out of the vaccination requirement puts all of us and our children in danger.

[coughdrop.2.go, BSN, RN]

School Nurse here and I've had a lot of parents asking about TDAP waivers lately. Usually, parents just have to sign the back of the blue school Immunization card. Since the pertussis outbreak and the new TDAP requirement parents have to now ASK for the TDAP waiver, a separate blue form, which we have to get from the county office. I have to go by tomorrow to get more. Pretty much every parent has said for religious reasons. I don't judge. My job is to inform. And since California is starting with a new law in Jan. 2014 where parents have to get a sign letter from the doctor after he explains the cons/pros of vaccinations, I think I might get more angry parents. Maybe they might have a change in their religious beliefs like that church in Texas with the measles outbreak. I guess measles became a more real threat than autism.

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

I think all states should be like Mississippi and West Virginia where if it is not medically indicated then you cannot opt-out of vaccinations.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I think all states should be like Mississippi and West Virginia where if it is not medically indicated then you cannot opt-out of vaccinations.

I agree.

[Jolie, BSN]

Just a clarification: The Catholic Church does not oppose childhood vaccines:

Vatican says refusing vaccines must be weighed against health threats

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican urged parents to use caution when deciding not to inoculate their children against infectious diseases when so-called "ethical vaccines" are not yet available.

In a paper, the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life reaffirmed a person's right to abstain from receiving vaccines that were prepared from cells derived from aborted fetuses, but it said such a choice must be made after carefully considering whether refusing the vaccination would pose serious health risks to the child and the larger public.

"We are responsible for all people, not just ourselves," Msgr. Jacques Suaudeau, a medical doctor and official at the Pontifical Academy for Life, told Catholic News Service.

"If it is a question of protecting the whole population and avoiding death and malformation in others, that is more important" than abstaining from vaccines developed from abortions that might have occurred decades ago, he said.

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0504240.htm

[wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA]

Human Fetal Links with Some Vaccines - Immunization Issue

Admittedly, this is a reflection of my locale where the attitudes seem fairly atypical compared to much of the nation but the anti-vaxers here don't tend to be religious but rather more humanistic and naturalistic... though it's easiest to simply mark "religious grounds" on the opt-out form because nobody is going to press it.

[VampyrSlayer, CNA]

I'll never understand the reasons (unless medical) to not get TDAP. I had pertussis in 7th grade and was patient zero in a local outbreak. Work experience ever. It's super bad, especially for infants, and just because you don't have an infant at home, doesn't mean that someone you come in contact doesn't. I babysit a lot (I'm prenursing), so I make sure to be up to date on all vaccines. I even requested the TDAP booster last month but apparently I already had it!

[Ikikaeru]

Back on topic , Its interesting the bad science being spread around about vaccines. The people declining vaccines will be the first people normaly to complain about how the government didnt do something about that "outbreak" when crap hits the fan.

[Tinker88]

Anyways, some people who do not vaccinate their children think it causes autism. They worry about the mercury content in the vaccine. Jenny McCarthy strongly believes that vaccines caused her child to develop autism, but there's no evidence to support her thinking.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

It kind of makes me sad that the parents would gamble this much with their children. Because you and I all know that the second their kid gets one of these preventable illnesses, you better watch out.