Measles outbreak raises questions about vaccination exemptions

The recent outbreak of measles appears to have put the vaccine-skeptics on the defensive. L awmakers, healthcare officials, and parent groups are again debating whether  states should make it easier or more difficult for parents to exempt their children from vaccinations.

The percentage of American children who obtained non-medical vaccine exemptions increased from 0.98 percent to 1.49 percent between 1991 and 2004. States with more lax exemption laws saw a higher increase, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Lawmakers in California and Arizona, two of fourteen states suffering from the measles outbreak, are introducing measures which would require schools to publish their immunization rates. “Certainly the outbreak is prompting us to think about, are there additional steps we need to take as well?” said state Senator Richard Pan (D), a doctor who proposed the California bill. Supporters claim the bill would allow parents to know the percentage of unvaccinated students on a campus, thereby letting them calculate their children’s exposure to risk.

In Maine, where more than 200 children got sick last year from whooping cough, lawmakers are looking to make opting out of vaccinations more difficult by making parents first consult a doctor, nurse, or physician assistant. Minnesota lawmakers are reviewing a bill which would allow parents to opt out of a child’s vaccination if they obtained a signature from a healthcare provider and renew the signature as a child enters the seventh grade.

According to Politico, public health officials and organizations are optimistic that this outbreak could be a turning point in the battle to discourage legislation which supports vaccine exemptions. Many have pointed to author Roald Dahl’s letter, written twenty-four-years after the death of his seven-year-old daughter from measles in 1962.

The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was twenty-four years ago in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her. On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunized against measles.

“I think we’re all hoping that this … will encourage people, particularly policymakers, to strengthen their vaccine laws and not weaken them and look very carefully at any exemptions they go to approve,” said physician Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association. He added, however, that “there is no reason to believe it will be different.”

Those who want to make vaccine exemptions easier are also hoping this outbreak will bring their case for parental choice to light. “This is an issue that affects a minority population” of parents, said Dawn Richardson, director of advocacy at the National Vaccine Information Center, which advocates more parental choice. “Like any minority issue, it’s a challenge to be heard.”

Both supporters and opponents of vaccines agree on the dangers posed by a measles outbreak. “This virus is incredibly contagious,” said Sandra Hassink, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “When measles was more common in the U.S., hundreds of children died from this virus every year.”

Paul Jarris, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, believes the current measles outbreak will spark conversations about parents’ responsibilities to their communities in terms of vaccination. “The effort is cumulative, of course, but I think this will be one more effort at strengthening those laws.”

“Measles is bad,” Jarris continued. “It’s more than just a little rash that kids get. I’m hoping that this episode once again demonstrates how we must be vigilant at all times.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied 102 measles cases in the United States. Last year, the country counted 644 infections in twenty-seven states.

“As for Mr. Paul,” the Journal concludes, “he will have to avoid these libertarian dormitory passions if he wants to be a credible candidate…. Let’s chalk up the weird science of Messrs. Paul and Christie to a lack of information, and we’re happy to send them 13 years of vaccine editorials if they want to study up.”