State vaccination exemptions up tenfold over 30 years

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2015/02/state_vaccination_exemptions_up_tenfold_over_30_years



State vaccination exemptions up tenfold over 30 years
Laurel J. Sweet
Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Religious and medical exemptions claimed by Bay State parents as a reason not to vaccinate their children against potentially deadly diseases like measles have risen nearly tenfold in the past 30 years — and the state Department of Public Health says there’s little it can do to reverse the “honor system” upsurge.

“A parent or guardian writes a letter to the school. There is no verification of that honor system. The exemptions are the rights of parents under state law. That’s not second-guessed,” said Kevin Crans­ton, director of DPH’s Bureau of Infectious Disease.

There were 120 exemptions claimed on behalf of kindergartners during the 1984-85 school year versus 1,161 in 2013-14, according to DPH immunization records. Cranston noted DPH tends “to see higher exemption rates” in more affluent cities and towns, as supported by the latest kindergarten immunization survey results indicating that schools like Waldorf, a private school in Lexington; West Tisbury, a public school on Martha’s Vineyard; and Morris, a public school in Lenox, have the highest rates of parents claiming exemptions for their children.

Boston Medical Center pediatrician Dr. John G. Palfrey, a member of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Immunization Initiative, said one step the state could take for the safety of all is to eliminate the religious exemption, which, according to DPH, parents of kindergartners turned to 837 times in the 2013-14 school year. Unlike Maine and Vermont, Massachusetts does not offer a vaccine exemption for philosophical objections, which Palfrey believes is what’s usually behind the refusal absent a medical reason.