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Vermont lawmakers are deliberating
whether to terminate the “philosophical exemption” that allows parents to
enroll children in school or child care without being immunized.
The state Health Department and CDC
call for about 20 shots before a child begins kindergarten. Both agencies also
note Vermont has one of the highest state exemption rates for childhood
vaccinations.
A March state Senate vote (26-4)
eliminated the philosophical exemption, but a subsequent April House vote
(93-36) retained it. Left unresolved, the legislation will die, leaving Vermont
one of 20 states allowing philosophical exemptions from required immunizations.
All states allow medical exemptions,
and nearly all offer religious exemptions from immunization. An Associated
Press analysis of state health department data for 2010-11 found that Alaska
exempted 9 percent of kindergarteners; Colorado exempted 7 percent; and Vermont
and Washington each exempted 6 percent.
State Health Department Immunization
Manager Christine Finley said Vermont’s percentage of fully immunized
kindergarteners fell from 93 percent in 2005 to 83 percent in 2010. While
exemption proponents decry a perceived profit-driven pharmaceutical industry,
exemption critics assert the decline in state immunizations must be halted to
preserve “herd immunity.”
Some theorize that Vermont’s recent
outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough), a vaccine target, is related to
exemption. “Do you want to wait until you’ve got a measles outbreak?” asked
Finley, who added that Vermont had 102 whooping cough cases between January and
the beginning of April, more than in all of 2011. Washington had 640 cases from
January through March; 94 cases were reported for the same time in 2011.
Gov. Peter Shumlin has endorsed the
House’s call for more education on immunization over the Senate’s move to drop
the philosophical exemption.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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