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For years, the number of unvaccinated children across the country has been growing as more parents refuse shots for their kids. In New Jersey, that number has skyrocketed more than 400 percent in the past decade, according to a recent report released by the state’s Department of Health.
While extensive research has found no link between autism and vaccines, there are other reasons why parents are refusing vaccinations. A survey recently published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) shows a large percentage of parents believe they’re unnecessary. Many worry about adverse health effects, and that shots will lower a child’s immunity.
Peter N. Wenger, MD, infectious disease authority and chairman of the New Jersey Immunization Network, debunks the popular claim that we are “overloading” a child’s immune system with vaccines. “During the 1950s, the antigenic load of vaccinations was much higher than that of today,” he said.
Risks of Not Getting Vaccinated
“If your child attends public school, or even most private schools, it’s mandated they get vaccinated from a public health standpoint,” says Dr. Wenger. “An unvaccinated child faces an increased risk of contracting an infectious disease and also spreading disease to others.”
In New Jersey, 9,506 school-aged kids skipped vaccinations during the 2015-2016 school year. That’s more than five times the amount during the 2005-2006 school year, according to a report by the state’s Department of Health.
Aside from health concerns, parents say they are opting out of immunizations because of their religious beliefs. Religious exemption is one of the most common reasons parents cite for declining vaccines, according to NJ state officials.
The number of religious exemptions in NJ jumped from 1,641 during the 2005-2006 school year to 9,906 during the 2015-2016 academic year. Broken down by county in the 2015-2016 year, Hunterdon led the way with 4.8 percent of school-age kids getting religious exemptions, Monmouth followed with 3.5 percent and Sussex had 3.4 percent.
Parents against vaccines began to reconsider their position after a multi-state outbreak of measles in December 2014 linked to Disneyland in California, where someone came to the theme park after becoming infected in another country. The virus spread to 667 people in 27 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“People were appalled, and rightfully so,” says Paul A. Offit, MD, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, about the large number of unvaccinated children at the theme park. “This is a disease that we pretty much eradicated in 2000. There was no good reason for this to happen.”
Pushing for Immunizations
The AAP’s recently released a clinical report, “Countering Vaccine Hesitancy,” in the September 2016 edition of Pediatrics.The report was released, in part, in response to the percentage of pediatricians across the country who’ve encountered a parent refusing to vaccinate, which went from about 75 percent in 2006 to 87 percent in 2013.
The AAP advises pediatricians to “have compassionate dialogues with parents to clear up misconceptions around vaccines,
provide accurate information about the safety and importance of vaccines and strive over time to help parents make the decision to vaccinate their child.”
The AAP recommends only medical exemptions be allowed by childcare facilities and schools, based on the fact that high immunization rates are critical to preventing disease outbreaks. In NJ, a medical exemption must be provided by a medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy or advanced practical nurse. And, for the first time in its history, the AAP supports doctors who choose to ban anti-vaccination parents from their practices.
Voices for Vaccine Choice
Sue Collins, co-founder of New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice (NJCVC), takes issue with the AAP’s “only medical exemptions” stance. She would like to see parents have the right to oppose vaccines on other grounds.
The NJCVC is working to get passage of the Conscientious Exemption to Mandatory Vaccination bill into law. If passed, New Jersey would become 1 of 18 states to allow vaccination choice by providing parents the right to a conscientious or philosophical exemption.
Currently, New Jersey has mandatory vaccination regulations; however, a child can attend public or most private schools with select or no vaccines if the parent or guardian provides a valid medical or religious exemption letter to the school administrator. “Vaccination is a medical procedure that comes with adverse reactions for some, as do all drugs and medications,” Collins says. “It is unethical to force a procedure on everyone that will have a negative outcome for some.”
Dr. Offit, who has written extensively about vaccines, says that Collins’ claims are unfounded. “The chemicals in vaccines have scary-sounding names and at certain levels they can be harmful, but not at the levels found in vaccines,” he says. “Plus, if you live on Earth, you can’t avoid coming into contact with heavy metals or chemicals in our air and water, including human and animal DNA.”
The bottom line, Wenger says, is no one can make you vaccinate your child if you don’t want to. “If you choose to send your child to school, however, where he or she will congregate with other children, there are certain requirements,” he says. Wenger points out that this is also the case for people who enter the military or healthcare workers who come into contact with vulnerable patients every day.
Dr. Offit concurs: “The anti-vaccination people talk about their rights, but is it my right—or the right of my child—to catch a potentially fatal illness? The answer is no.”
Martta Kelly has been a health and wellness writer for more than 15 years. She lives in West Orange.
