Vaccines: Yes or no?

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Vaccines: Yes or no?

By AMY LAWSON

Norwich Bulletin

When her daughter, Celia, was a baby, Lori Guillard had her vaccinated at the

pediatrician's office.

Celia is now 15 and healthy, but Guillard said she wishes she could change

that she had Celia inoculated.

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would not have given her all of them at once, like I did. There's so much

controversy about kids and shots now, " Guillard said, citing a recent study that

shows a link between some vaccinations and childhood illness. " I just didn't

know about the dangers then. "

The state Health and Education departments require students to have proof of

certain immunizations before they're allowed to enter a classroom. But a

recurring number of parents request their children be exempt from the

requirements for personal, religious and medical reasons.

A growing amount of controversy surrounds the recommended vaccinations -- MMR

(measles, mumps, rubella), DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), polio,

hemophilus influenza and hepatitis A and B. The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention show more than 90 percent of students nationwide entering the public

school system have received the inoculations districts require. In 2004, about

600 students new to Connecticut's public schools were exempt from regulations.

The state does not maintain statistics on the total number of newly enrolled

children, or children already enrolled in the school system.

The state Department of Education said figures for home-educated children also

are not available, though parents of the more than 2,000 children taught at home

are not required to have them immunized.

" Connecticut has a 99 percent coverage rate for immunization (for publicly

enrolled students), " said Sacco, the state's immunization program

manager with the Department of Health. " It's been consistent that way over the

years. "

In 1998, English scientist Wakefield released the results of a study

that claimed the MMR vaccine given to infants can cause autism. Dr.

Sullivan of the Norwich Pediatric Group said the results of the study have

scared some parents into not vaccinating their children.

" The problem is, that initial report got a lot of press, and even though

follow-up studies refute the argument, those publications don't gather the same

press, so it goes unnoticed. It's absolutely false, " Sullivan said.

The 1998 study examined only 10 children who were diagnosed with autism

shortly after receiving the MMR vaccine. More recent studies have shown a link

between thimerosal, a preservative used in many common multidose vaccines, and

childhood disorders, including autism, heart disease and speech impairment.

Other research has linked the chemical to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Thimerosal is 49 percent ethyl mercury, a known neurotoxin.

" I tell parents with questions all the time that I wouldn't do anything to

their children that I haven't done to mine, " said Sullivan, a father of three.

" If they have concerns, they should talk to their doctor. "

Dr. Raja Fattaleh of Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam agrees. He said he

regularly sees parents who don't want their children vaccinated because of the

MMR-autism link. He tells them what could happen if their child become ill and

isn't immunized.

" I ask parents to think back to when we didn't have immunizations -- to the

time when polio ran rampant, and measles, mumps and rubella caused children a

great deal of suffering in the hospital, " Fattaleh said. " We're seeing regional

outbreaks of things in other parts of the country because of this. Nothing is

100 percent in medicine, but the benefits of vaccinating greatly outweigh the

risks. "

le Barnard of Niantic doesn't see it that way. Her son, , was

diagnosed with autism in 1999 when he was 18 months old, just six months after

receiving his MMR shot at the pediatrician's office.

Later that year, drug manufacturers were ordered to discontinue using

thimerosal as a preservative.

Barnard said was a normal, functioning infant who enjoyed watching

and singing along to Barney tapes. Within two weeks of receiving his shot, he

had stopped talking, she said.

Barnard said she consulted a pediatrician about 's loss of speech

immediately, but was reassured he was just a growing boy who didn't want to

communicate.

She said a worker from a child-care group could tell something was wrong with

him, despite what the pediatrician said.

" She could tell within five minutes, " Barnard said. " Five minutes, and she

could see that he wasn't the child we had given birth to. "

An FDA report released in 2003 showed that, despite the ban, thimerosal was

still present in some vaccines until 2002. Batches of the vaccine, manufactured

before 1999, were not recalled and were still being administered.

Thimerosal remains in some vaccines in trace amounts, but parents can request

mercury-free versions of the inoculations.

The state offers parents a way to have their children excused from the

required immunizations.

They can file medical or religious exemptions with the school district, but

may face some opposition from the school nurse.

" We strongly advise that all students get their immunizations, not only for

them, but also to protect others, " said Kim Jodoin, the nurse supervisor for

Canterbury Public Schools. " If an unvaccinated kid contracts a disease, they're

going to spread it. Diseases that people think are gone, aren't. They're not out

of the woods. "

All of Audrey Hussey's five children are home-schooled and none have received

complete sets of immunizations.

The Putnam mother said parents are better off treating their children for

illnesses at home, and allowing an illness to take its course.

" The things they require you to have are absolutely ridiculous. Things like

Hepatitis A, for example, " Hussey said. " Your child isn't an intravenous drug

user or a prostitute, so why would a fifth-grader need protection from that? "

This school year, 12 of the 4,800 students in the Norwich Public Schools have

medical exemption from vaccine requirements, said nurse supervisor Phyllis

Cummings.

" We don't have any religious exemptions here, but the medicals are renewed on

a yearly basis, " Cummings said. " We recommend to parents that they get their

child vaccinated, and that they don't use a religious exemption. "

Canterbury Public Schools is the only local district that reported one

exemption for religious reasons.

Cummings said if a parent elects to have a child excused from immunizations,

they sign a form requiring the child to be removed from school if there is an

outbreak of illness for which the child isn't vaccinated.

Despite any study findings, some parents still immunize.

" My kids are protected, so they should be safe, assuming the vaccinations

they've received are safe, " said Beasley of Voluntown, a mother of three.

" They've always been completely up to date. I get that there are risks, but I

think the risk of your child catching something is worse. "

Reach Amy Lawson at 425-4235 or alawson@...

Originally published January 28, 2006

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