Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise

August 23, 2010

"“But if you let your kid get measles, and it somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid dies, you have a direct role in putting that child at risk.”

Oh? And if your child's vaccine fails and my child gets measles from your child, OR if my child gets it from your live virus vaccine, then YOU put MY child at risk.

AND if my child is damaged by a vaccine he got to protect YOUR child, then who's fault is that?

Winnie Vaccine Refusals are on the Risevaccinations > This was in our local paper today.> > > > http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/23/vaccine-refusals-> have-nearly-quadrupled/> > > > > Vaccine refusals are on the rise > Amid whooping cough epidemic, health officials are pushing for > more > inoculations> By Helen Gao, Watchdog Institute> Monday, August 23, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.> > Earnie Grafton> Lara of Cardiff and her children Zalia, 5, and Finnely, > 2, go for an > outing at the San Diego Zoo. Lara, a former registered nurse > from Australia, > doesn't agree with immunizing her children.> DATABASE> Search by name or by map for vaccination waivers at your > child's school.> What do you think of growing use of vaccine exemptions?> Families have every right to avoid immunizations, given the risks> They are endangering their children and others, and vaccines > should be > mandatory> It sounds like the state should make the waivers harder to > get, but still > allow them> or See results> Getting inoculated for diseases such as whooping cough and > measles used to be a > childhood rite of passage that few questioned. Now with > shifting parental > attitudes about vaccine safety, a growing number of California > children are > entering kindergarten without shots.> The trend worries public health officials because of the link > between > immunization rates and infectious outbreaks. As they grapple > with the worst > whooping cough surge in half a century, they are fighting back > with outreach > campaigns to promote vaccinations.> The Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative journalism > center based at > San Diego State University, found that waivers signed by > parents who choose to > exempt their children from immunizations for kindergarten > enrollment have > nearly quadrupled since 1990. California allows parents to opt > out of some or > all shots on the basis of personal beliefs, be it religious > objections or > distrust of the medical establishment.> The institute’s analysis also revealed that San Diego County’s > exemption rate > has been consistently higher than the state average over the > past two decades.> “Un-immunized people in general contribute to any disease rates. > As the rates > of un-immunized kids go up, we are inevitably going to see more > and more > outbreaks of diseases,” said Mark Sawyer, a pediatric > infectious disease > specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.> The institute examined 20 years of county-by-county records and > two years of > school-by-school data from the California Department of Public > Health to find:> • Personal-belief exemptions granted to entering kindergartners > reached a > record high of 10,280 in public and private schools statewide > last fall, up > from 2,719 in 1990. > > • San Diego County’s exemption rate is 2.64 percent, compared to > 2.03 percent > statewide. While those percentages seem small, public health > officials are > concerned that unvaccinated children tend to cluster in certain > areas, creating > pockets of vulnerability.> • Schools with the highest exemption rates tend to be private > schools, public > charter schools, and traditional public schools in affluent > areas. Among > schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, 14 had > immunization opt-outs > for more than 15 percent of their kindergarten class. The top > was the Waldorf > School of San Diego in City Heights, at 51 percent.> Exemptions have drawn renewed scrutiny with each new report of > measles or > whooping cough, also known as pertussis. More than 3,000 cases > of whooping > cough have been confirmed statewide this year, with eight > infant deaths. San > Diego County reached an all-time high of 384 cases last week. > This year, > California has had 19 cases of measles as of Aug. 17, compared > to nine for all > of 2009.> Some medical experts believe that parental refusal of vaccines > plays a > contributing role in the whooping cough epidemic, and they want > to see the > exemption procedure changed. But even those who are fully > vaccinated can catch > it because their immunity wears off over time. > > A bill is pending in the state Legislature to require booster > shots for > students in grades 7-12 starting Jan. 1. Opt-outs would still be > allowed under > this legislation.> The institute’s analysis found five of the ten counties with the > highest > incidence of pertussis as of Aug. 17 had above average exemption > rates in 2009, > while the other five were below average. Marin County, where > 7.13 percent of > the kindergartners had waivers last fall, tops the chart in the > number of cases > in relation to its population. Fresno, which had a 0.98 percent > exemption rate > last fall, also has a very high concentration of cases.> Multiple scientific studies have established correlations > between geographical > clusters of vaccine refusers and whooping cough and measles > outbreaks > throughout the country.> For each one percent increase in exemptions at a school, the > risk of having a > pertussis outbreak went up by 12 percent, a 2000 study in the > Journal of the > American Medical Association found. The study also found that > at least 11 > percent of the vaccinated children in measles outbreaks were > infected through > contact with somebody who was exempt. > > Parents like Lara of Cardiff aren’t convinced vaccines are > necessary. The > mother of two children, ages 5 and 2, with another baby on the > way, believes > breast-feeding her children and raising them with proper > nutrition and plenty > of exercise are the better ways to protect them.> “If you are going to take responsibility for your children, > you’ve got a right > to say. ‘I don’t want to vaccinate,’” said , a former > registered nurse who > home schools.> HOT SPOTS> Among schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, here > are the ones with > more than 15 percent using immunization waivers:> * Waldorf School, 51%> * California Virtual Academy @ San Diego (Spencer Valley), 45%> * Greater San Diego Academy (Jamul-Dulzura), 39%> * Dehesa Charter School (Dehesa),33%> * Xara Garden (Lakeside), 31%> * n Charter (n), 30%> * Chabad Hebrew Academy, 28%> * Horizon Prep, 23%> * Soille San Diego Hebrew Day,22%> * Iowa Street School (Fallbrook), 20%> * Encinitas Country Day, 20%> * Learning Choice Academy (San Diego), 19%> * California Avenue Elementary (Vista), 17%> * Classical Academy (Escondido), 16%> Source: California Department of Public Health. (For public > schools, district > is shown in parentheses.)> Sawyer said parents who choose not to vaccinate are not just > making an > individual decision, they are making a community decision.> “You can choose to not put your child in a seat belt. All that’s > going to > happen is he might get injured,” he said. “But if you let your > kid get measles, > and it somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid dies, you > have a direct > role in putting that child at risk.”> Estepp of Poway, a mother of two boys 12 and 10 years > old, is familiar > with that logic, but she cannot square it with her maternal > instinct. > > After her first son suffered adverse reactions from vaccines and > developed > autism, she decided to not to go through with the full schedule > of immunization > for her second son.> “I don’t know if there is an acceptable level of collateral > damage in the war > against infectious diseases,” said Estepp, who is also the > government and media > relations manager for SafeMinds, a nonprofit that investigates > the link between > vaccine ingredients and neurological disorders.> Like Estepp, Haines of Serra Mesa perceives the risks of > vaccinations to > be far greater than the benefits. Her younger son, 15, and > three of her > grandchildren 5 to ten years old have either had no > vaccinations or just a few > of them. Based on her research, she’s convinced that it’s > better for children > to develop immunity naturally from being exposed to diseases > like chickenpox.> “We do find that the unvaccinated kids are extremely healthy > because their > bodies have been allowed to develop their own immune system, > rather than > relying on vaccinations, which are like substitutes,” she said.> Public health officials emphasize that extensive research has > debunked the > connection between autism and vaccinations. They warn that some > diseases, such > as measles, can cause serious harm in unvaccinated children, > including brain > swelling and pneumonia.> This year, three children in San Diego County who were > unvaccinated by choice > have come down with measles, including one toddler from Solana > Beach this > month.> In 2008, an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy sparked > the largest > measles outbreak in the county in 17 years. The boy, who > contracted the disease > during a trip to Switzerland, attended San Diego ative > Charter School, > where 20 percent of kindergartners that year had immunization > waivers. The > exemption rate there remained at 12.5 percent, last fall.> “The 2008 measles outbreak did not create a significant shift in > immunization > rates among our student population,” said Principal Ranck-> Buhr. “There > are strong emotions on both sides.”> She noted that many parents who sign waivers still partially > vaccinate their > children. > > Schools that top the list of highest exemption rates in the > county in 2009 are > almost all either private or charter schools. The private > Waldorf School of San > Diego, where tuition ranges from $7,500 to $14,000 a year, has > the highest > exemption rate.> “Our parents are really educated. They are trying to make their > own decisions, > not being influenced by pharmaceutical companies,” said > Johannes Lasthaus, > Waldorf’s administrator.> His school, he noted, has had no outbreaks and maintains a > policy of keeping > sick children at home.> “It’s all about people’s right to choose what is right for their > child and > their family and really respecting people’s choices, whether > they choose to > vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate,” said Joinson, > Waldorf’s director > of admissions, speaking for herself. She noted that her > daughter, 14, who has > never been vaccinated, is “super healthy.”> “It’s not that I think that vaccinations are terrible,” Joinson > said. “If I > lived in a third-world country with open sewage running down the > streets, I > would probably vaccinate my child. At this point, I really have > concerns about > what goes into vaccinations.”> California is one of 48 states that allow nonmedical exemptions. > Parents sign a > form stating that “some or all immunizations are contrary to my > personal > beliefs.” Other states, such as Wyoming and South Carolina, > require notarized > statements.> States with easy exemption procedures were associated with a 90 > percent higher > incidence of pertussis compared to states with difficult > procedures, according > to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.> Many public health officials believe California’s waiver process > needs to be > revamped so that parents understand the full implications of > opting out.> of Alameda County, who chairs a committee on > personal belief > exemptions for the California Conference of Public Health > Officers, wants to > see the waiver language changed.> He would like the statement to read something like this: “By > declining these > immunizations, I understand that not only do I put my child’s > health at risk > but also the health of others.” > > That type of language, he believes, would foster “social > consciousness.”It’s up to the state Legislature and the state > Department of Public Health to > make the change to exemption procedures but neither has plans > to do so. > > Fred Schwartz, public health officer for Marin County, which has > one of the > highest exemption rates in California, said the whooping cough > epidemic > provides a prime opportunity for lawmakers to re-examine the > exemption policy. > > “I think many public health officers would like to see things > like a > requirement to have more education offered to the parent in > order for them to > be able to make the decision to do a personal belief exemption,” > Schwartz said. > > He believes exemptions are a contributing factor to the > pertussis epidemic but > not a primary cause, as 91 percent of the 5- to 10-year-olds in > Marin who > contracted whooping cough were vaccinated. Many were in higher > elementary > grades, at which immunity from the vaccine begins to wane.> For many years California’s overall exemption rate was below one > percent but in > the last decade, the numbers started to climb steadily. > > Much of the blame is directed at discredited British doctor > Wakefield > for linking autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and > rubella. His research > was endorsed by celebrities such as McCarthy and Jim > Carrey. It was also > widely disseminated through the Internet, where a plethora of > websites and > blogs focus on vaccine problems.> “We’ve just got this perfect storm of a lot of information — > some accurate, > some not — mistrust of government and not seeing these diseases > and not feeling > like they are at risk,” said , director of the > California > Immunization Coalition, a group that works to increase > vaccination rates.> In the last few years, vaccine advocates have pushed back with > Internet and > traditional advertising campaigns of their own. > > The “Why I choose” and “Shot by Shot” campaigns sponsored by the > coalition and > the California Department of Public Health feature testimonies > by those who > have chosen to vaccinate and stories of families and > individuals who have > suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases. > > “The people who are personal belief exemptors, I don’t think, > have seen polio,” > said. “I don’t think they have seen widespread > measles. They certainly > haven’t seen diphtheria. Aren’t these diseases of the past?> “Well, almost, but not quite.”> helengaojournalist@...> > >

August 24, 2010

I heard it makes the adult male infertile if he should get it as an adult...or

was that mumps??

Re: Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise

I agree with Winnie. I had measles when I was

six and it was not so bad, though I had the usual

fever and was in bed. My one year old sister did

not catch them from me, though she was in my face

constantly, so they sent me to Grandma's, which

was pleasantly memorable. My 4 year old brother

also did not catch them from me. No one else in

the family caught them from me.

That was the first year of mass innoculation of

American school children with measles vaccine, I

have read. 1963. Now, I wonder if I would have

caught them if the health department had not

spread so much measles virus in the schools

through vaccinating everyone all at once (through

shedding. I confess I do not know a lot about

this, but aren't kids contagious for awhile after vaccination?)

No one wants their kid to get sick, of course,

but I have had lifetime immunity for the past 46

years and counting, and was able to pass that on

to my nursing children when they needed it most,

BEFORE they were ol

August 24, 2010

I agree with Winnie. I had measles when I was

six and it was not so bad, though I had the usual

fever and was in bed. My one year old sister did

not catch them from me, though she was in my face

constantly, so they sent me to Grandma's, which

was pleasantly memorable. My 4 year old brother

also did not catch them from me. No one else in

the family caught them from me.

That was the first year of mass innoculation of

American school children with measles vaccine, I

have read. 1963. Now, I wonder if I would have

caught them if the health department had not

spread so much measles virus in the schools

through vaccinating everyone all at once (through

shedding. I confess I do not know a lot about

this, but aren't kids contagious for awhile after vaccination?)

No one wants their kid to get sick, of course,

but I have had lifetime immunity for the past 46

years and counting, and was able to pass that on

to my nursing children when they needed it most,

BEFORE they were old enough to be vaccinated.

Christie

At 10:50 PM 8/23/2010, you wrote:

>

> " “But if you let your kid get measles, and it

>somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid

>dies, you have a direct role in putting that child at risk.”

>

>Oh? And if your child's vaccine fails and my

>child gets measles from your child, OR if my

>child gets it from your live virus vaccine, then YOU put MY child at risk.

>

>AND if my child is damaged by a vaccine he got

>to protect YOUR child, then who's fault is that?

>

>Winnie

>

> Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise

>vaccinations

>

> > This was in our local paper today.

> >

> > http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/23/vaccine-refusals-

> > have-nearly-quadrupled/

> >

> > Vaccine refusals are on the rise

> > Amid whooping cough epidemic, health officials are pushing for

> > more

> > inoculations

> > By Helen Gao, Watchdog Institute

> > Monday, August 23, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.

> >

> > Earnie Grafton

> > Lara of Cardiff and her children Zalia, 5, and Finnely,

> > 2, go for an

> > outing at the San Diego Zoo. Lara, a former registered nurse

> > from Australia,

> > doesn't agree with immunizing her children.

> > DATABASE

> > Search by name or by map for vaccination waivers at your

> > child's school.

> > What do you think of growing use of vaccine exemptions?

> > Families have every right to avoid immunizations, given the risks

> > They are endangering their children and others, and vaccines

> > should be

> > mandatory

> > It sounds like the state should make the waivers harder to

> > get, but still

> > allow them

> > or See results

> > Getting inoculated for diseases such as whooping cough and

> > measles used to be a

> > childhood rite of passage that few questioned. Now with

> > shifting parental

> > attitudes about vaccine safety, a growing number of California

> > children are

> > entering kindergarten without shots.

> > The trend worries public health officials because of the link

> > between

> > immunization rates and infectious outbreaks. As they grapple

> > with the worst

> > whooping cough surge in half a century, they are fighting back

> > with outreach

> > campaigns to promote vaccinations.

> > The Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative journalism

> > center based at

> > San Diego State University, found that waivers signed by

> > parents who choose to

> > exempt their children from immunizations for kindergarten

> > enrollment have

> > nearly quadrupled since 1990. California allows parents to opt

> > out of some or

> > all shots on the basis of personal beliefs, be it religious

> > objections or

> > distrust of the medical establishment.

> > The institute’s analysis also revealed that San Diego County’s

> > exemption rate

> > has been consistently higher than the state average over the

> > past two decades.

> > “Un-immunized people in general contribute to any disease rates.

> > As the rates

> > of un-immunized kids go up, we are inevitably going to see more

> > and more

> > outbreaks of diseases,” said Mark Sawyer, a pediatric

> > infectious disease

> > specialist at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego.

> > The institute examined 20 years of county-by-county records and

> > two years of

> > school-by-school data from the California Department of Public

> > Health to find:

> > • Personal-belief exemptions granted to entering kindergartners

> > reached a

> > record high of 10,280 in public and private schools statewide

> > last fall, up

> > from 2,719 in 1990.

> >

> > • San Diego County’s exemption rate is 2.64 percent, compared to

> > 2.03 percent

> > statewide. While those percentages seem small, public health

> > officials are

> > concerned that unvaccinated children tend to cluster in certain

> > areas, creating

> > pockets of vulnerability.

> > • Schools with the highest exemption rates tend to be private

> > schools, public

> > charter schools, and traditional public schools in affluent

> > areas. Among

> > schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, 14 had

> > immunization opt-outs

> > for more than 15 percent of their kindergarten class. The top

> > was the Waldorf

> > School of San Diego in City Heights, at 51 percent.

> > Exemptions have drawn renewed scrutiny with each new report of

> > measles or

> > whooping cough, also known as pertussis. More than 3,000 cases

> > of whooping

> > cough have been confirmed statewide this year, with eight

> > infant deaths. San

> > Diego County reached an all-time high of 384 cases last week.

> > This year,

> > California has had 19 cases of measles as of Aug. 17, compared

> > to nine for all

> > of 2009.

> > Some medical experts believe that parental refusal of vaccines

> > plays a

> > contributing role in the whooping cough epidemic, and they want

> > to see the

> > exemption procedure changed. But even those who are fully

> > vaccinated can catch

> > it because their immunity wears off over time.

> >

> > A bill is pending in the state Legislature to require booster

> > shots for

> > students in grades 7-12 starting Jan. 1. Opt-outs would still be

> > allowed under

> > this legislation.

> > The institute’s analysis found five of the ten counties with the

> > highest

> > incidence of pertussis as of Aug. 17 had above average exemption

> > rates in 2009,

> > while the other five were below average. Marin County, where

> > 7.13 percent of

> > the kindergartners had waivers last fall, tops the chart in the

> > number of cases

> > in relation to its population. Fresno, which had a 0.98 percent

> > exemption rate

> > last fall, also has a very high concentration of cases.

> > Multiple scientific studies have established correlations

> > between geographical

> > clusters of vaccine refusers and whooping cough and measles

> > outbreaks

> > throughout the country.

> > For each one percent increase in exemptions at a school, the

> > risk of having a

> > pertussis outbreak went up by 12 percent, a 2000 study in the

> > Journal of the

> > American Medical Association found. The study also found that

> > at least 11

> > percent of the vaccinated children in measles outbreaks were

> > infected through

> > contact with somebody who was exempt.

> >

> > Parents like Lara of Cardiff aren’t convinced vaccines are

> > necessary. The

> > mother of two children, ages 5 and 2, with another baby on the

> > way, believes

> > breast-feeding her children and raising them with proper

> > nutrition and plenty

> > of exercise are the better ways to protect them.

> > “If you are going to take responsibility for your children,

> > you’ve got a right

> > to say. ‘I don’t want to vaccinate,’” said , a former

> > registered nurse who

> > home schools.

> > HOT SPOTS

> > Among schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, here

> > are the ones with

> > more than 15 percent using immunization waivers:

> > * Waldorf School, 51%

> > * California Virtual Academy @ San Diego (Spencer Valley), 45%

> > * Greater San Diego Academy (Jamul-Dulzura), 39%

> > * Dehesa Charter School (Dehesa),33%

> > * Xara Garden (Lakeside), 31%

> > * n Charter (n), 30%

> > * Chabad Hebrew Academy, 28%

> > * Horizon Prep, 23%

> > * Soille San Diego Hebrew Day,22%

> > * Iowa Street School (Fallbrook), 20%

> > * Encinitas Country Day, 20%

> > * Learning Choice Academy (San Diego), 19%

> > * California Avenue Elementary (Vista), 17%

> > * Classical Academy (Escondido), 16%

> > Source: California Department of Public Health. (For public

> > schools, district

> > is shown in parentheses.)

> > Sawyer said parents who choose not to vaccinate are not just

> > making an

> > individual decision, they are making a community decision.

> > “You can choose to not put your child in a seat belt. All that’s

> > going to

> > happen is he might get injured,” he said. “But if you let your

> > kid get measles,

> > and it somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid dies, you

> > have a direct

> > role in putting that child at risk.”

> > Estepp of Poway, a mother of two boys 12 and 10 years

> > old, is familiar

> > with that logic, but she cannot square it with her maternal

> > instinct.

> >

> > After her first son suffered adverse reactions from vaccines and

> > developed

> > autism, she decided to not to go through with the full schedule

> > of immunization

> > for her second son.

> > “I don’t know if there is an acceptable level of collateral

> > damage in the war

> > against infectious diseases,” said Estepp, who is also the

> > government and media

> > relations manager for SafeMinds, a nonprofit that investigates

> > the link between

> > vaccine ingredients and neurological disorders.

> > Like Estepp, Haines of Serra Mesa perceives the risks of

> > vaccinations to

> > be far greater than the benefits. Her younger son, 15, and

> > three of her

> > grandchildren 5 to ten years old have either had no

> > vaccinations or just a few

> > of them. Based on her research, she’s convinced that it’s

> > better for children

> > to develop immunity naturally from being exposed to diseases

> > like chickenpox.

> > “We do find that the unvaccinated kids are extremely healthy

> > because their

> > bodies have been allowed to develop their own immune system,

> > rather than

> > relying on vaccinations, which are like substitutes,” she said.

> > Public health officials emphasize that extensive research has

> > debunked the

> > connection between autism and vaccinations. They warn that some

> > diseases, such

> > as measles, can cause serious harm in unvaccinated children,

> > including brain

> > swelling and pneumonia.

> > This year, three children in San Diego County who were

> > unvaccinated by choice

> > have come down with measles, including one toddler from Solana

> > Beach this

> > month.

> > In 2008, an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy sparked

> > the largest

> > measles outbreak in the county in 17 years. The boy, who

> > contracted the disease

> > during a trip to Switzerland, attended San Diego ative

> > Charter School,

> > where 20 percent of kindergartners that year had immunization

> > waivers. The

> > exemption rate there remained at 12.5 percent, last fall.

> > “The 2008 measles outbreak did not create a significant shift in

> > immunization

> > rates among our student population,” said Principal Ranck-

> > Buhr. “There

> > are strong emotions on both sides.”

> > She noted that many parents who sign waivers still partially

> > vaccinate their

> > children.

> >

> > Schools that top the list of highest exemption rates in the

> > county in 2009 are

> > almost all either private or charter schools. The private

> > Waldorf School of San

> > Diego, where tuition ranges from $7,500 to $14,000 a year, has

> > the highest

> > exemption rate.

> > “Our parents are really educated. They are trying to make their

> > own decisions,

> > not being influenced by pharmaceutical companies,” said

> > Johannes Lasthaus,

> > Waldorf’s administrator.

> > His school, he noted, has had no outbreaks and maintains a

> > policy of keeping

> > sick children at home.

> > “It’s all about people’s right to choose what is right for their

> > child and

> > their family and really respecting people’s choices, whether

> > they choose to

> > vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate,” said Joinson,

> > Waldorf’s director

> > of admissions, speaking for herself. She noted that her

> > daughter, 14, who has

> > never been vaccinated, is “super healthy.”

> > “It’s not that I think that vaccinations are terrible,” Joinson

> > said. “If I

> > lived in a third-world country with open sewage running down the

> > streets, I

> > would probably vaccinate my child. At this point, I really have

> > concerns about

> > what goes into vaccinations.”

> > California is one of 48 states that allow nonmedical exemptions.

> > Parents sign a

> > form stating that “some or all immunizations are contrary to my

> > personal

> > beliefs.” Other states, such as Wyoming and South Carolina,

> > require notarized

> > statements.

> > States with easy exemption procedures were associated with a 90

> > percent higher

> > incidence of pertussis compared to states with difficult

> > procedures, according

> > to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

> > Many public health officials believe California’s waiver process

> > needs to be

> > revamped so that parents understand the full implications of

> > opting out.

> > of Alameda County, who chairs a committee on

> > personal belief

> > exemptions for the California Conference of Public Health

> > Officers, wants to

> > see the waiver language changed.

> > He would like the statement to read something like this: “By

> > declining these

> > immunizations, I understand that not only do I put my child’s

> > health at risk

> > but also the health of others.”

> >

> > That type of language, he believes, would foster “social

> > consciousness.”It’s up to the state Legislature and the state

> > Department of Public Health to

> > make the change to exemption procedures but neither has plans

> > to do so.

> >

> > Fred Schwartz, public health officer for Marin County, which has

> > one of the

> > highest exemption rates in California, said the whooping cough

> > epidemic

> > provides a prime opportunity for lawmakers to re-examine the

> > exemption policy.

> >

> > “I think many public health officers would like to see things

> > like a

> > requirement to have more education offered to the parent in

> > order for them to

> > be able to make the decision to do a personal belief exemption,”

> > Schwartz said.

> >

> > He believes exemptions are a contributing factor to the

> > pertussis epidemic but

> > not a primary cause, as 91 percent of the 5- to 10-year-olds in

> > Marin who

> > contracted whooping cough were vaccinated. Many were in higher

> > elementary

> > grades, at which immunity from the vaccine begins to wane.

> > For many years California’s overall exemption rate was below one

> > percent but in

> > the last decade, the numbers started to climb steadily.

> >

> > Much of the blame is directed at discredited British doctor

> > Wakefield

> > for linking autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and

> > rubella. His research

> > was endorsed by celebrities such as McCarthy and Jim

> > Carrey. It was also

> > widely disseminated through the Internet, where a plethora of

> > websites and

> > blogs focus on vaccine problems.

> > “We’ve just got this perfect storm of a lot of information —

> > some accurate,

> > some not — mistrust of government and not seeing these diseases

> > and not feeling

> > like they are at risk,” said , director of the

> > California

> > Immunization Coalition, a group that works to increase

> > vaccination rates.

> > In the last few years, vaccine advocates have pushed back with

> > Internet and

> > traditional advertising campaigns of their own.

> >

> > The “Why I choose” and “Shot by Shot” campaigns sponsored by the

> > coalition and

> > the California Department of Public Health feature testimonies

> > by those who

> > have chosen to vaccinate and stories of families and

> > individuals who have

> > suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases.

> >

> > “The people who are personal belief exemptors, I don’t think,

> > have seen polio,”

> > said. “I don’t think they have seen widespread

> > measles. They certainly

> > haven’t seen diphtheria. Aren’t these diseases of the past?

> > “Well, almost, but not quite.”

> > helengaojournalist@...

> >

>

>No virus found in this incoming message.

>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com

>Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3091

>- Release Date: 08/24/10 02:34:00

August 24, 2010

So there's about 37 million people in CA and about 3,000 that got whooping cough

this year. Hardly sounds like an epidemic to me. How about 1 out of 90 kids with

autism (or whatever the figure is now)? Not that's an epidemic that needs

attention. I live in CA in a county with supposedly high whooping cough. I don't

know a soul who has it. I do know many kids with ADHD, autism, and immune

problems.

It's not the unvaccinated kids spreading whooping cough, it's the adults with

all the unhealthy habits.

I remember there being something a while back about breastmilk specifically

preventing pertussis. Was there a study on this? Does anyone have that handy?

From Mercola today on whooping cough:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/24/the-real-scoop-on-\

california-whooping-cough--using-fear-and-prejudice-to-attack-vaccine-exemption.\

aspx

Jane

Healthy Child

http://www.healthychild.com

>

> This was in our local paper today.

>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/23/vaccine-refusals-have-nearly-quad\

rupled/

>

> Vaccine refusals are on the rise

> Amid whooping cough epidemic, health officials are pushing for more

> inoculations

> By Helen Gao, Watchdog Institute

> Monday, August 23, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.

>

> Earnie Grafton

> Lara of Cardiff and her children Zalia, 5, and Finnely, 2, go for an

> outing at the San Diego Zoo. Lara, a former registered nurse from Australia,

> doesn't agree with immunizing her children.

> DATABASE

> Search by name or by map for vaccination waivers at your child's school.

> What do you think of growing use of vaccine exemptions?

> Families have every right to avoid immunizations, given the risks

> They are endangering their children and others, and vaccines should be

> mandatory

> It sounds like the state should make the waivers harder to get, but still

> allow them

> or See results

> Getting inoculated for diseases such as whooping cough and measles used to be

a

> childhood rite of passage that few questioned. Now with shifting parental

> attitudes about vaccine safety, a growing number of California children are

> entering kindergarten without shots.

> The trend worries public health officials because of the link between

> immunization rates and infectious outbreaks. As they grapple with the worst

> whooping cough surge in half a century, they are fighting back with outreach

> campaigns to promote vaccinations.

> The Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative journalism center based at

> San Diego State University, found that waivers signed by parents who choose

to

> exempt their children from immunizations for kindergarten enrollment have

> nearly quadrupled since 1990. California allows parents to opt out of some or

> all shots on the basis of personal beliefs, be it religious objections or

> distrust of the medical establishment.

> The instituteâ€™s analysis also revealed that San Diego Countyâ€™s exemption

rate

> has been consistently higher than the state average over the past two

decades.

> â€œUn-immunized people in general contribute to any disease rates. As the

rates

> of un-immunized kids go up, we are inevitably going to see more and more

> outbreaks of diseases,â€ said Mark Sawyer, a pediatric infectious disease

> specialist at Rady Childrenâ€™s Hospital in San Diego.

> The institute examined 20 years of county-by-county records and two years of

> school-by-school data from the California Department of Public Health to

find:

> â€¢ Personal-belief exemptions granted to entering kindergartners reached a

> record high of 10,280 in public and private schools statewide last fall, up

> from 2,719 in 1990.

>

> â€¢ San Diego Countyâ€™s exemption rate is 2.64 percent, compared to 2.03

percent

> statewide. While those percentages seem small, public health officials are

> concerned that unvaccinated children tend to cluster in certain areas,

creating

> pockets of vulnerability.

> â€¢ Schools with the highest exemption rates tend to be private schools,

public

> charter schools, and traditional public schools in affluent areas. Among

> schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, 14 had immunization

opt-outs

> for more than 15 percent of their kindergarten class. The top was the Waldorf

> School of San Diego in City Heights, at 51 percent.

> Exemptions have drawn renewed scrutiny with each new report of measles or

> whooping cough, also known as pertussis. More than 3,000 cases of whooping

> cough have been confirmed statewide this year, with eight infant deaths. San

> Diego County reached an all-time high of 384 cases last week. This year,

> California has had 19 cases of measles as of Aug. 17, compared to nine for

all

> of 2009.

> Some medical experts believe that parental refusal of vaccines plays a

> contributing role in the whooping cough epidemic, and they want to see the

> exemption procedure changed. But even those who are fully vaccinated can

catch

> it because their immunity wears off over time.

>

> A bill is pending in the state Legislature to require booster shots for

> students in grades 7-12 starting Jan. 1. Opt-outs would still be allowed

under

> this legislation.

> The instituteâ€™s analysis found five of the ten counties with the highest

> incidence of pertussis as of Aug. 17 had above average exemption rates in

2009,

> while the other five were below average. Marin County, where 7.13 percent of

> the kindergartners had waivers last fall, tops the chart in the number of

cases

> in relation to its population. Fresno, which had a 0.98 percent exemption

rate

> last fall, also has a very high concentration of cases.

> Multiple scientific studies have established correlations between

geographical

> clusters of vaccine refusers and whooping cough and measles outbreaks

> throughout the country.

> For each one percent increase in exemptions at a school, the risk of having a

> pertussis outbreak went up by 12 percent, a 2000 study in the Journal of the

> American Medical Association found. The study also found that at least 11

> percent of the vaccinated children in measles outbreaks were infected through

> contact with somebody who was exempt.

>

> Parents like Lara of Cardiff arenâ€™t convinced vaccines are necessary.

The

> mother of two children, ages 5 and 2, with another baby on the way, believes

> breast-feeding her children and raising them with proper nutrition and plenty

> of exercise are the better ways to protect them.

> â€œIf you are going to take responsibility for your children, youâ€™ve got a

right

> to say. â€˜I donâ€™t want to vaccinate,â€™â€ said , a former registered

nurse who

> home schools.

> HOT SPOTS

> Among schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, here are the ones

with

> more than 15 percent using immunization waivers:

> * Waldorf School, 51%

> * California Virtual Academy @ San Diego (Spencer Valley), 45%

> * Greater San Diego Academy (Jamul-Dulzura), 39%

> * Dehesa Charter School (Dehesa),33%

> * Xara Garden (Lakeside), 31%

> * n Charter (n), 30%

> * Chabad Hebrew Academy, 28%

> * Horizon Prep, 23%

> * Soille San Diego Hebrew Day,22%

> * Iowa Street School (Fallbrook), 20%

> * Encinitas Country Day, 20%

> * Learning Choice Academy (San Diego), 19%

> * California Avenue Elementary (Vista), 17%

> * Classical Academy (Escondido), 16%

> Source: California Department of Public Health. (For public schools, district

> is shown in parentheses.)

> Sawyer said parents who choose not to vaccinate are not just making an

> individual decision, they are making a community decision.

> â€œYou can choose to not put your child in a seat belt. All thatâ€™s going to

> happen is he might get injured,â€ he said. â€œBut if you let your kid get

measles,

> and it somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid dies, you have a direct

> role in putting that child at risk.â€

> Estepp of Poway, a mother of two boys 12 and 10 years old, is

familiar

> with that logic, but she cannot square it with her maternal instinct.

>

> After her first son suffered adverse reactions from vaccines and developed

> autism, she decided to not to go through with the full schedule of

immunization

> for her second son.

> â€œI donâ€™t know if there is an acceptable level of collateral damage in the

war

> against infectious diseases,â€ said Estepp, who is also the government and

media

> relations manager for SafeMinds, a nonprofit that investigates the link

between

> vaccine ingredients and neurological disorders.

> Like Estepp, Haines of Serra Mesa perceives the risks of vaccinations

to

> be far greater than the benefits. Her younger son, 15, and three of her

> grandchildren 5 to ten years old have either had no vaccinations or just a

few

> of them. Based on her research, sheâ€™s convinced that itâ€™s better for

children

> to develop immunity naturally from being exposed to diseases like chickenpox.

> â€œWe do find that the unvaccinated kids are extremely healthy because their

> bodies have been allowed to develop their own immune system, rather than

> relying on vaccinations, which are like substitutes,â€ she said.

> Public health officials emphasize that extensive research has debunked the

> connection between autism and vaccinations. They warn that some diseases,

such

> as measles, can cause serious harm in unvaccinated children, including brain

> swelling and pneumonia.

> This year, three children in San Diego County who were unvaccinated by choice

> have come down with measles, including one toddler from Solana Beach this

> month.

> In 2008, an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy sparked the largest

> measles outbreak in the county in 17 years. The boy, who contracted the

disease

> during a trip to Switzerland, attended San Diego ative Charter School,

> where 20 percent of kindergartners that year had immunization waivers. The

> exemption rate there remained at 12.5 percent, last fall.

> â€œThe 2008 measles outbreak did not create a significant shift in

immunization

> rates among our student population,â€ said Principal Ranck-Buhr.

â€œThere

> are strong emotions on both sides.â€

> She noted that many parents who sign waivers still partially vaccinate their

> children.

>

> Schools that top the list of highest exemption rates in the county in 2009

are

> almost all either private or charter schools. The private Waldorf School of

San

> Diego, where tuition ranges from $7,500 to $14,000 a year, has the highest

> exemption rate.

> â€œOur parents are really educated. They are trying to make their own

decisions,

> not being influenced by pharmaceutical companies,â€ said Johannes Lasthaus,

> Waldorfâ€™s administrator.

> His school, he noted, has had no outbreaks and maintains a policy of keeping

> sick children at home.

> â€œItâ€™s all about peopleâ€™s right to choose what is right for their child

and

> their family and really respecting peopleâ€™s choices, whether they choose to

> vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate,â€ said Joinson, Waldorfâ€™s

director

> of admissions, speaking for herself. She noted that her daughter, 14, who has

> never been vaccinated, is â€œsuper healthy.â€

> â€œItâ€™s not that I think that vaccinations are terrible,â€ Joinson said.

â€œIf I

> lived in a third-world country with open sewage running down the streets, I

> would probably vaccinate my child. At this point, I really have concerns

about

> what goes into vaccinations.â€

> California is one of 48 states that allow nonmedical exemptions. Parents sign

a

> form stating that â€œsome or all immunizations are contrary to my personal

> beliefs.â€ Other states, such as Wyoming and South Carolina, require

notarized

> statements.

> States with easy exemption procedures were associated with a 90 percent

higher

> incidence of pertussis compared to states with difficult procedures,

according

> to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

> Many public health officials believe Californiaâ€™s waiver process needs to

be

> revamped so that parents understand the full implications of opting out.

> of Alameda County, who chairs a committee on personal belief

> exemptions for the California Conference of Public Health Officers, wants to

> see the waiver language changed.

> He would like the statement to read something like this: â€œBy declining

these

> immunizations, I understand that not only do I put my childâ€™s health at

risk

> but also the health of others.â€

>

> That type of language, he believes, would foster â€œsocial consciousness.â€

> Itâ€™s up to the state Legislature and the state Department of Public Health

to

> make the change to exemption procedures but neither has plans to do so.

>

> Fred Schwartz, public health officer for Marin County, which has one of the

> highest exemption rates in California, said the whooping cough epidemic

> provides a prime opportunity for lawmakers to re-examine the exemption

policy.

>

> â€œI think many public health officers would like to see things like a

> requirement to have more education offered to the parent in order for them to

> be able to make the decision to do a personal belief exemption,â€ Schwartz

said.

>

> He believes exemptions are a contributing factor to the pertussis epidemic

but

> not a primary cause, as 91 percent of the 5- to 10-year-olds in Marin who

> contracted whooping cough were vaccinated. Many were in higher elementary

> grades, at which immunity from the vaccine begins to wane.

> For many years Californiaâ€™s overall exemption rate was below one percent

but in

> the last decade, the numbers started to climb steadily.

>

> Much of the blame is directed at discredited British doctor Wakefield

> for linking autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. His

research

> was endorsed by celebrities such as McCarthy and Jim Carrey. It was

also

> widely disseminated through the Internet, where a plethora of websites and

> blogs focus on vaccine problems.

> â€œWeâ€™ve just got this perfect storm of a lot of information â€ " some

accurate,

> some not â€ " mistrust of government and not seeing these diseases and not

feeling

> like they are at risk,â€ said , director of the California

> Immunization Coalition, a group that works to increase vaccination rates.

> In the last few years, vaccine advocates have pushed back with Internet and

> traditional advertising campaigns of their own.

>

> The â€œWhy I chooseâ€ and â€œShot by Shotâ€ campaigns sponsored by the

coalition and

> the California Department of Public Health feature testimonies by those who

> have chosen to vaccinate and stories of families and individuals who have

> suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases.

>

> â€œThe people who are personal belief exemptors, I donâ€™t think, have seen

polio,â€

> said. â€œI donâ€™t think they have seen widespread measles. They

certainly

> havenâ€™t seen diphtheria. Arenâ€™t these diseases of the past?

> â€œWell, almost, but not quite.â€

> helengaojournalist@...

>

August 24, 2010

Hi,

I just wanted to say that one of my boyfriends had mumps and his doctor told him

he wouldn't be able to have children. He has one child. He is around 15 years

old.

all the best

correy

>

> I heard it makes the adult male infertile if he should get it as an adult...or

was that mumps??

> Re: Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise

>

> I agree with Winnie. I had measles when I was

> six and it was not so bad, though I had the usual

> fever and was in bed. My one year old sister did

> not catch them from me, though she was in my face

> constantly, so they sent me to Grandma's, which

> was pleasantly memorable. My 4 year old brother

> also did not catch them from me. No one else in

> the family caught them from me.

>

> That was the first year of mass innoculation of

> American school children with measles vaccine, I

> have read. 1963. Now, I wonder if I would have

> caught them if the health department had not

> spread so much measles virus in the schools

> through vaccinating everyone all at once (through

> shedding. I confess I do not know a lot about

> this, but aren't kids contagious for awhile after vaccination?)

>

> No one wants their kid to get sick, of course,

> but I have had lifetime immunity for the past 46

> years and counting, and was able to pass that on

> to my nursing children when they needed it most,

> BEFORE they were ol

>

August 24, 2010

Mumps in adult males can lead to infertility, if

the testicles are affected, but that is not the

normal case--is what I've read. My uncle had

mumps as a teen and has two natural offspring. This was in the fifties.

Christie

At 12:57 PM 8/24/2010, you wrote:

>

>I heard it makes the adult male infertile if he

>should get it as an adult...or was that mumps??

> Re: Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise

>

>I agree with Winnie. I had measles when I was

>six and it was not so bad, though I had the usual

>fever and was in bed. My one year old sister did

>not catch them from me, though she was in my face

>constantly, so they sent me to Grandma's, which

>was pleasantly memorable. My 4 year old brother

>also did not catch them from me. No one else in

>the family caught them from me.

>

>That was the first year of mass innoculation of

>American school children with measles vaccine, I

>have read. 1963. Now, I wonder if I would have

>caught them if the health department had not

>spread so much measles virus in the schools

>through vaccinating everyone all at once (through

>shedding. I confess I do not know a lot about

>this, but aren't kids contagious for awhile after vaccination?)

>

>No one wants their kid to get sick, of course,

>but I have had lifetime immunity for the past 46

>years and counting, and was able to pass that on

>to my nursing children when they needed it most,

>BEFORE they were ol

>

>No virus found in this incoming message.

>Checked by AVG - www.avg.com

>Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3091

>- Release Date: 08/24/10 02:34:00

August 24, 2010

I have heard it is usually one-sided anyway.

Winnie Re: Vaccine Refusals are on the Rise> >> >I agree with Winnie. I had measles when I was> >six and it was not so bad, though I had the usual> >fever and was in bed. My one year old sister did> >not catch them from me, though she was in my face> >constantly, so they sent me to Grandma's, which> >was pleasantly memorable. My 4 year old brother> >also did not catch them from me. No one else in> >the family caught them from me.> >> >That was the first year of mass innoculation of> >American school children with measles vaccine, I> >have read. 1963. Now, I wonder if I would have> >caught them if the health department had not> >spread so much measles virus in the schools> >through vaccinating everyone all at once (through> >shedding. I confess I do not know a lot about> >this, but aren't kids contagious for awhile after vaccination?)> >> >No one wants their kid to get sick, of course,> >but I have had lifetime immunity for the past 46> >years and counting, and was able to pass that on> >to my nursing children when they needed it most,> >BEFORE they were ol> >> >> >> >No virus found in this incoming message.> >Checked by AVG - www.avg.com> >Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3091 > >- Release Date: 08/24/10 02:34:00> >

August 26, 2010

San Diego

Might want to send nice informative polite emails to the author

helengaojournalist@...

Sheri

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/23/vaccine-refusals-have-nearly-quadrupled/

Vaccine refusals are on the rise

Amid whooping cough epidemic, health officials are

pushing for more inoculationsBy Helen Gao, Watchdog

Institute

Monday, August 23, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.

Earnie Grafton

Lara of Cardiff and her children Zalia, 5, and Finnely, 2, go for

an outing at the San Diego Zoo. Lara, a former registered nurse from

Australia, doesn't agree with immunizing her children.

DATABASE

Search by name or by

map for vaccination waivers at your child's school.

What do you think of growing use of vaccine

exemptions?Families have every right to avoid immunizations,

given the risks

They are endangering their children and others, and vaccines should be

mandatory

It sounds like the state should make the waivers harder to get, but still

allow them

or

See results

Getting inoculated for diseases such as whooping cough and measles used

to be a childhood rite of passage that few questioned. Now with shifting

parental attitudes about vaccine safety, a growing number of California

children are entering kindergarten without shots.

The trend worries public health officials because of the link between

immunization rates and infectious outbreaks. As they grapple with the

worst whooping cough surge in half a century, they are fighting back with

outreach campaigns to promote vaccinations.

The Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative journalism center based

at San Diego State University, found that waivers signed by parents who

choose to exempt their children from immunizations for kindergarten

enrollment have nearly quadrupled since 1990. California allows parents

to opt out of some or all shots on the basis of personal beliefs, be it

religious objections or distrust of the medical establishment.

The instituteâ€™s analysis also revealed that San Diego Countyâ€™s

exemption rate has been consistently higher than the state average over

the past two decades.

â€œUn-immunized people in general contribute to any disease rates. As the

rates of un-immunized kids go up, we are inevitably going to see more and

more outbreaks of diseases,â€ said Mark Sawyer, a pediatric infectious

disease specialist at Rady Childrenâ€™s Hospital in San Diego.

The institute examined 20 years of county-by-county records and two years

of school-by-school data from the California Department of Public Health

to find:

• Personal-belief exemptions granted to entering kindergartnerss reached

a record high of 10,280 in public and private schools statewide last

fall, up from 2,719 in 1990.

• San Diego Countyâ€™s exemption rate is 2.64 percent, commpared to 2.03

percent statewide. While those percentages seem small, public health

officials are concerned that unvaccinated children tend to cluster in

certain areas, creating pockets of vulnerability.

• Schools with the highest exemption rates tend to be private schools,

public charter schools, and traditional public schools in affluent areas.

Among schools with 25 or more kindergartners last year, 14 had

immunization opt-outs for more than 15 percent of their kindergarten

class. The top was the Waldorf School of San Diego in City Heights, at 51

percent.

Exemptions have drawn renewed scrutiny with each new report of measles or

whooping cough, also known as pertussis. More than 3,000 cases of

whooping cough have been confirmed statewide this year, with eight infant

deaths. San Diego County reached an all-time high of 384 cases last week.

This year, California has had 19 cases of measles as of Aug. 17, compared

to nine for all of 2009.

Some medical experts believe that parental refusal of vaccines plays a

contributing role in the whooping cough epidemic, and they want to see

the exemption procedure changed. But even those who are fully vaccinated

can catch it because their immunity wears off over time.

A bill is pending in the state Legislature to require booster shots for

students in grades 7-12 starting Jan. 1. Opt-outs would still be allowed

under this legislation.

The instituteâ€™s analysis found five of the ten counties with the

highest incidence of pertussis as of Aug. 17 had above average exemption

rates in 2009, while the other five were below average. Marin County,

where 7.13 percent of the kindergartners had waivers last fall, tops the

chart in the number of cases in relation to its population. Fresno, which

had a 0.98 percent exemption rate last fall, also has a very high

concentration of cases.

Multiple scientific studies have established correlations between

geographical clusters of vaccine refusers and whooping cough and measles

outbreaks throughout the country.

For each one percent increase in exemptions at a school, the risk of

having a pertussis outbreak went up by 12 percent, a 2000 study in the

Journal of the American Medical Association found. The study also found

that at least 11 percent of the vaccinated children in measles outbreaks

were infected through contact with somebody who was exempt.

Parents like Lara of Cardiff arenâ€™t convinced vaccines are

necessary. The mother of two children, ages 5 and 2, with another baby on

the way, believes breast-feeding her children and raising them with

proper nutrition and plenty of exercise are the better ways to protect

them.

â€œIf you are going to take responsibility for your children, youâ€™ve

got a right to say. â€˜I donâ€™t want to vaccinate,â€™â€ said , a

former registered nurse who home schools.

HOT SPOTSAmong schools with 25 or more kindergartners

last year, here are the ones with more than 15 percent using immunization

waivers:

Waldorf School, 51%

California Virtual Academy @ San Diego (Spencer Valley), 45%

Greater San Diego Academy (Jamul-Dulzura), 39%

Dehesa Charter School (Dehesa), 33%

Xara Garden (Lakeside), 31%

n Charter (n), 30%

Chabad Hebrew Academy, 28%

Horizon Prep, 23%

Soille San Diego Hebrew Day, 22%

Iowa Street School (Fallbrook), 20%

Encinitas Country Day, 20%

Learning Choice Academy (San Diego), 19%

California Avenue Elementary (Vista), 17%

Classical Academy (Escondido), 16%

Source: California Department of Public Health. (For public schools,

district is shown in parentheses.)

Sawyer said parents who choose not to vaccinate are not just making an

individual decision, they are making a community decision.

â€œYou can choose to not put your child in a seat belt. All thatâ€™s

going to happen is he might get injured,â€ he said. â€œBut if you let

your kid get measles, and it somehow spreads to another kid, and that kid

dies, you have a direct role in putting that child at risk.â€

Estepp of Poway, a mother of two boys 12 and 10 years old, is

familiar with that logic, but she cannot square it with her maternal

instinct.

After her first son suffered adverse reactions from vaccines and

developed autism, she decided to not to go through with the full schedule

of immunization for her second son.

â€œI donâ€™t know if there is an acceptable level of collateral damage in

the war against infectious diseases,â€ said Estepp, who is also the

government and media relations manager for SafeMinds, a nonprofit that

investigates the link between vaccine ingredients and neurological

disorders.

Like Estepp, Haines of Serra Mesa perceives the risks of

vaccinations to be far greater than the benefits. Her younger son, 15,

and three of her grandchildren 5 to ten years old have either had no

vaccinations or just a few of them. Based on her research, sheâ€™s

convinced that itâ€™s better for children to develop immunity naturally

from being exposed to diseases like chickenpox.

â€œWe do find that the unvaccinated kids are extremely healthy because

their bodies have been allowed to develop their own immune system, rather

than relying on vaccinations, which are like substitutes,â€ she

said.

Public health officials emphasize that extensive research has debunked

the connection between autism and vaccinations. They warn that some

diseases, such as measles, can cause serious harm in unvaccinated

children, including brain swelling and pneumonia.

This year, three children in San Diego County who were unvaccinated by

choice have come down with measles, including one toddler from Solana

Beach this month.

In 2008, an intentionally unvaccinated 7-year-old boy sparked the largest

measles outbreak in the county in 17 years. The boy, who contracted the

disease during a trip to Switzerland, attended San Diego ative

Charter School, where 20 percent of kindergartners that year had

immunization waivers. The exemption rate there remained at 12.5 percent,

last fall.

â€œThe 2008 measles outbreak did not create a significant shift in

immunization rates among our student population,â€ said Principal

Ranck-Buhr. â€œThere are strong emotions on both sides.â€

She noted that many parents who sign waivers still partially vaccinate

their children.

Schools that top the list of highest exemption rates in the county in

2009 are almost all either private or charter schools. The private

Waldorf School of San Diego, where tuition ranges from $7,500 to $14,000

a year, has the highest exemption rate.

â€œOur parents are really educated. They are trying to make their own

decisions, not being influenced by pharmaceutical companies,â€ said

Johannes Lasthaus, Waldorfâ€™s administrator.

His school, he noted, has had no outbreaks and maintains a policy of

keeping sick children at home.

â€œItâ€™s all about peopleâ€™s right to choose what is right for their

child and their family and really respecting peopleâ€™s choices, whether

they choose to vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate,â€ said

Joinson, Waldorfâ€™s director of admissions, speaking for herself. She

noted that her daughter, 14, who has never been vaccinated, is â€œsuper

healthy.â€

â€œItâ€™s not that I think that vaccinations are terrible,â€ Joinson

said. â€œIf I lived in a third-world country with open sewage running

down the streets, I would probably vaccinate my child. At this point, I

really have concerns about what goes into vaccinations.â€

California is one of 48 states that allow nonmedical exemptions. Parents

sign a form stating that â€œsome or all immunizations are contrary to my

personal beliefs.â€ Other states, such as Wyoming and South Carolina,

require notarized statements.

States with easy exemption procedures were associated with a 90 percent

higher incidence of pertussis compared to states with difficult

procedures, according to a 2006 study in the Journal of the American

Medical Association.

Many public health officials believe Californiaâ€™s waiver process needs

to be revamped so that parents understand the full implications of opting

out.

of Alameda County, who chairs a committee on personal

belief exemptions for the California Conference of Public Health

Officers, wants to see the waiver language changed.

He would like the statement to read something like this: â€œBy declining

these immunizations, I understand that not only do I put my childâ€™s

health at risk but also the health of others.â€

That type of language, he believes, would foster â€œsocial

consciousness.â€

Itâ€™s up to the state Legislature and the state Department of Public

Health to make the change to exemption procedures but neither has plans

to do so.

Fred Schwartz, public health officer for Marin County, which has one of

the highest exemption rates in California, said the whooping cough

epidemic provides a prime opportunity for lawmakers to re-examine the

exemption policy.

â€œI think many public health officers would like to see things like a

requirement to have more education offered to the parent in order for

them to be able to make the decision to do a personal belief

exemption,â€ Schwartz said.

He believes exemptions are a contributing factor to the pertussis

epidemic but not a primary cause, as 91 percent of the 5- to 10-year-olds

in Marin who contracted whooping cough were vaccinated. Many were in

higher elementary grades, at which immunity from the vaccine begins to

wane.

For many years Californiaâ€™s overall exemption rate was below one

percent but in the last decade, the numbers started to climb steadily.

Much of the blame is directed at discredited British doctor

Wakefield for linking autism to the vaccine for measles, mumps and

rubella. His research was endorsed by celebrities such as McCarthy

and Jim Carrey. It was also widely disseminated through the Internet,

where a plethora of websites and blogs focus on vaccine

problems.

â€œWeâ€™ve just got this perfect storm of a lot of information — some

accurate, some not — mistrust of government and not seeing these diseases

and not feeling like they are at risk,â€ said , director

of the California Immunization Coalition, a group that works to increase

vaccination rates.

In the last few years, vaccine advocates have pushed back with Internet

and traditional advertising campaigns of their own.

The â€œWhy I chooseâ€ and â€œShot by Shotâ€ campaigns sponsored by the

coalition and the California Department of Public Health feature

testimonies by those who have chosen to vaccinate and stories of families

and individuals who have suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases.

â€œThe people who are personal belief exemptors, I donâ€™t think, have

seen polio,â€ said. â€œI donâ€™t think they have seen

widespread measles. They certainly havenâ€™t seen diphtheria. Arenâ€™t

these diseases of the past?

â€œWell, almost, but not quite.â€

helengaojournalist@...

August 26, 2010