E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSSACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Parents who send their children to private schools in California are much more likely to opt out of immunizations than their public school counterparts, an Associated Press analysis has found, and not even the recent re-emergence of whooping cough has halted the downward trajectory of vaccinations among these students.
The state surveys all schools with at least 10 kindergartners to determine how many have all the recommended immunizations. The AP analyzed that data and found the percentage of children in private schools who forego some or all vaccinations is more than two times greater than in public schools.
More troubling to public health officials is that the number of children entering private schools without all of their shots jumped by 10 percent last year, while the opt-out rate held steady in public schools for the first time since 2004.
Public health officials believe that an immunization rate of at least 90 percent in all communities, including schools, is critical to minimizing the potential for a disease outbreak. About 15 percent of the 1,650 private schools surveyed by the state failed to reach that threshold, compared with 5 percent of public schools.
There were 110 private schools statewide where more than half the kindergartners skipped some or all of their shots, according to AP's analysis, with Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge — where 84 percent opted out — topping the list.
Parents cite a variety of reasons for not immunizing their children, among them: religious values, concerns the shots themselves could cause illness and a belief that allowing children to get sick helps them to build a stronger immune system. Likewise, there's no single explanation that accounts for why so many more parents who send their children to private schools apparently share a suspicion of immunizations.
Saad Omer, a professor of global health at Emory University in Atlanta who has studied vaccine refusal in private schools, surmised more private school parents are wealthy and have the time to spread five shots over a series of years and stay home should their child get an illness like chickenpox. Neal Halsey, a professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins University, said parents who choose private schools are likely to be more skeptical of state requirements and recommendations.
Bibi Reber, whose children attend the Waldorf-inspired Greenwood School in Mill Valley, had her children vaccinated only for what she sees as the deadliest diseases. Greenwood has a 79 percent opt-out rate among its kindergartners.
"I don't think dirt or getting sick makes you a weak person; your immune system needs to work with things," said Reber, whose children attend the Greenwood School in the San Francisco Bay area town of Mill Valley. "We certainly don't want to go back to having polio, but on the other hand, I don't think we need to eradicate all the childhood diseases
Public health officials say that, regardless of why parents choose not to vaccinate their children, the result is the same: an increased risk of an outbreak of whooping cough or other communicable diseases.
"We're very concerned that those schools are places where disease can spread quite rapidly through the school and into the community, should it get introduced," said Dr. Robert Schechter, medical officer with the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Public Health.
That's what prompted the Legislature to approve a bill requiring parents to discuss vaccinations with a pediatricians or a school nurse before they can opt-out. Gov. Jerry Brown has until the end of September to sign or veto it.
State Assemblyman Richard Pan, a pediatrician, who sponsored the bill, said he believes private school parents are more apt to mistakenly believe that the vaccinations themselves could be more dangerous than the diseases.
"In private school, these are people who have money, who are upper middle-class, and they are going on the Internet and seeing information and misinformation," said Pan, D-Sacramento.
Increasing immunization rates for this population is critical to controlling the outbreak of diseases, he said. "Have you ever seen a child cough themselves to death? It's not pleasant," he said.
Those who choose not to vaccinate their children see the legislation as meddlesome and unnecessary.
"It's making an extra appointment and paying extra money to go in there and essentially get permission to do what I feel is right for my family," said Dawn Kelly, who sends her unvaccinated 5-year-old son and partially vaccinated 9-year-old son to Monarch Christian School in the Los Angeles area.
Like many parents who refuse some or all immunization shots, Kelly worries her children's immune system could be overwhelmed by getting too many vaccines at once.
Melani Gold Friedman, president of the parent association at Highland Hall Waldorf School, is concerned with what the legislation means for families who normally consult with acupuncturists, holistic healers or other alternative practitioners.
"The bill has an assumption that everyone's seeing one particular kind of doctor, but the people who are opting out, chances are they're not seeing that kind of doctor," she said.
Vaccination opt-out rates nationwide have been creeping up since the mid-2000s, spurred in part by the belief the battery of vaccinations routinely given to infants could lead to autism. Several major studies have discredited that idea.
Parents are allowed to forego vaccines for philosophical reasons in California and 19 other states. Of those, only Washington requires parents to consult with a physician. And, in California, there's no difference between private and public schools when it comes to what's required for parents to opt out — they simply sign a document. The state recommends that kindergarteners receive five vaccine progressions, including protections against Polio, Hepatitis B and Measles
Politicians and public health experts across the nation are focusing more attention on childhood immunizations, driven by a re-emergence of diseases like whooping cough. The U.S. is in the midst of what could be its worst year for that disease in more than five decades, with nearly 25,000 cases and 13 deaths.
After whooping cough reached epidemic levels in California in 2010, the state took action, embarking on a public information campaign and increasing the availability of vaccines. A law was passed requiring booster shots for older students.
Yet the opt-out rate continued climbing in private schools. It's more than doubled since 2004, to 2,228 kindergartners in last year's state survey. While the overall rate of full immunization among kindergarteners hovers around 91 percent, places where the opt-out rate is greater could pose a risk for outbreak.
In 2008, East Bay Waldorf School in El Sobrante closed temporarily after whooping cough sickened more than a dozen students, eight of them kindergartners. The San Francisco Bay Area school had a vaccination rate of less than 50 percent.
State health officials are tracking the divergence of opt-out rates in private and public schools, but are not planning any studies or outreach efforts targeting this pupil population. The state is conducting a general education campaign to boost vaccinate rates.
The AP analysis found 20 of the 25 California private schools with the highest opt-out rates are "Waldorf schools," a loose association of institutions founded on the teachings of 19th-century philosopher Rudolf Steiner. He favored a holistic approach to education and medicine and thought childhood illnesses could be beneficial.
Officials at these schools would not comment about Pan's bill but say they trust parents to make the best decisions for their children's health.
"Parents who are brave enough to say, 'No, that's not the right thing,' should be supported," said Patrice Maynard, spokeswoman for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America.
Related stories:
- Whooping cough epidemic worst in 50 years, CDC says
- Big jump seen in Oregon parents delaying vaccines
- Bioethicist: US children suffer from vaccine exemptions
Leave a Comment:
Some folks have more money than sense.
If people want to opt out, allow them to opt out. Why have we become so obsessed with telling everyone what to do? So we're going to force them to speak to someone about a decision they obviously feel is right? Leave them alone. Perhaps the State of California would not be bankrupt if it was not so obsessed with monitoring its citizens affairs.
maybe because we are talking about infectious diseases and maybe we are talking about serious health conditions from diseases that can be preventible.
Because your choice not to vaccinate could lead to the death of a baby that is too young to be vaccinated.
It amazes me the medical experts people become when they read something on the internet. Its like the insurance commerical if someone says its true on the internet its true. Vaccinations do work.. look at the epidemiological studies done over the last 100 years. You cannot deny the good vacinnes have done. Again look at peer reviewed studies, those are studies that have statistical data backing them up, do not believe articles that do not have the sciencetific data to back up their claims. Lastly, life isnt perfect things happen and no one can control everything but take actions of things you can control like your children contracting a disease that can kill them like whooping cough. I have been in the ER trying to put a breathing tube in a child in that condition..its not fun
This discussion is amazing. People are so worried about vaccines and how they may or may not cause side effects. Nearly all medicines have side effects which may or may not be different from person to person. More importantly, the food American eat is so full of chemicals to make it taste better and makes us want more that it is making us fat and so very unhealthy. How many more diseases are we getting and passing on to our children through our chemical laden food than vaccines?
My girl friend got vaccinated and she quit giving head due to the mercury poison, from the mercury preservative in the vaccine and she lost her mind, now she just lays there and drools and coughs and pisses herself WTF.
OMG...you are such a loser! STFU!!!!! I'll bet you don't take care of her either....MORON!
From posts here and on other forums, I've noticed that many of the people who say they don't vax for religious reasons actually don't vax for a variety of other reasons, but SAY it's for religious reasons so that they aren't challenged as much. I wish people who don't WANT to do something would give the REAL reason - too lazy to get the kids vaxed, or too suspicious to use the vaccines. What religion is against keeping children healthy?
It used to be that the only kids who went to school unvaccinated were those whose parents didn't care enough to take them to the doctor. You know... the ones who came to school in dirty clothes, smelling, and gave all the other kids lice and whatever else they came to school with.
Good let the religious idiots kill themselves off. From what I have seen most of the people who opt out due so on religious grounds. The world needs less religious people forcing their rules on everybody.
a
I dont know about other private schools, but in our private school in California my four children were not enrolled until they had all of their shots!
Amazing the comments on how children's bodies are too delicate for all the vaccinations, but what about the effects of these diseases on children? Talk to the older people in your families, and find out about the distant relatives who routinely buried young children, due to diseases that were nearly wiped out by vaccinations...or go to an old grave yard, look at all the tiny headstones, the majority of which are due to the communicable diseases we are now vaccinated against...ironic that vaccines are so good at their job, people now think they don't need them, and sure enough, those diseases that were almost eradicated are coming back.
This is the same kind of thinking that leads those who suffer from psychiatric disorders to stop taking their meds. They feel better, so they feel like they no longer need the meds. It's ironic because they forget the meds are what is making them feel better.
I am a board certified MD. Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals known to man. So toxic that pregnant women are warned not to ingest too much of the types of fish that can have too much mercury. Mercury is a NEUROTOXIN, exposure to mercury causes the same neurological symptoms as autism. Ever heard of "the mad hatter?" People who made hats were exposed to mercury and went mad. Okay, we then give infants and young children doses of mercury well above the safe limits by adding vaccination after vaccination with mercury as the preservative without stopping to add up the doses of mercury we are giving and get an epidemic of autism/ADHD. The government (CDC, NIH) have studies that report no link between the two. Surprised? The government demanded that our kids get these vaccinations for school, etc...Why would they admit the mistake, they are already bankrupt and would never have enough money to cover all of these kids. They also covered Eli Lilly by adding a clause in the patriot act after 911 protecting Eli Lily from law suits over thimerosal (the preservative with mercury in it used in Vaccinations.) If the government really didn't believe mercury caused this epidemic don't you think they would be furiously looking for what did cause 1:87 to 1:150 of our kids to have neurologic abnormalities????? Come on, even you vaccination proponents have to pause and think about that.
what are you board certified in?
Listen up all you genius parents, your kids are being left unprotected when you skip out on the shots, this leaves them weak and at risk from all the third world disease carrying illegals that invade our counrty!
So save a few bucks now and enjoy burying your child so that some illegal can enjoy a free education while you shell out taxes and fees.....be smart get the basic shots and skip the heart break.
Waldorf-ians... these people aren't rocket surgeons. Of course they ignore rational science.
The only reason these weirdos get away with this is that most everyone else IS vaccinated....It is quite irresponsible actually.
Vaccines are extremely unhealthy for children due to the mercury content in them combined with the ridiculous amount of immunizations that are suggested to them by doctors for the first few years of their life. If you think mercury is healthy for a developing body, then why don't you snap a thermometer open and let your kids drink from it? I'm sure you pro-vaccine idiots are the same people who let your kids drink the poisoned water from the tap and buy them bottled water with "added fluoride." Uenlightened trend-following morons like you are the ones who are eliminating themselves from the gene pool by buying into everything your government (which makes backdoor deals with big vaccine industries among so many others) tells you. Good riddance to you, maybe our species can finally evolve as you all go and unintentionally sterilize yourself and poison your kids while smugly ridiculing the people who don't.
There is no longer any thimerasol in routine childhood vaccines and there hasn't been for years. Get up to date before calling others morons.
This of course is untrue...
its actually completely true
Let's see. I'm 44. I received all my childhood vaccinations and at that time they may have even had thimerosal, although THEY DON'T ANYMORE. Also, have been drinking fluoridated water my whole life. And here I am, one of the healthier persons around, I must say, and still in the gene pool. Perfectly unpoisoned. And with awesome teeth. Are Big Pharma greedy bastards mostly motivated by profit? Probably. Have they wiped out dread childhood diseases and provided us with the means to keep our teeth far longer than we used to? Yep. Is the human condition a series of trade-offs and paradoxes? Among other things.
test
Vaccinating teens in CA against Whooping Cough may not save their lives, but will save the lives of babies they might not even know. We had a deadly uptick in this disease as Kinder vaccine wears off by teenage. Parents, grandparents and babysitters also encouraged to protect the little ones who won't be vaccine protected til at least 6 months.
This is Public Health. What we do for each other in addition to what we do just for ourselves. If your child comes to school contagious with Measles or Diptheria they may kill my child. Thats just not ok. Some kids can't take vaccines due to allergy or immune status. Not every kid builds strong immunity as well as others on the vaccine - so we depend on most people being immune to stop the germs from spreading.
If there is an outbreak -- your unvaccinated child will be excluded from school. Period. You're on your own.
You are putting your child at risk if you don't vaccinate. Also, I don't want your child to be around my child unless they are vaccinated. Please home school your child. I don't want my child to get sick.
religious values? You got to be kidding. More STUPID AMERICANS living in California. Well, maybe mother nature will strick soon!!!!
I guess my only question would be if 90% of the student population is immunized then why would they worry about an outbreak among immunized children, unless the immunizations aren't effective?
There is a period of time where a child is too young to be vaccinated but their immunity from their mother has waned. This can be fatal for an infant if he/she is exposed to the disease from an unvaccinated older person. FATAL.
Vaccines will make you infertile and give you cancer among other deadly diseases.
Anything the government gives you is not good for you.
Well explain that to my vaccinated husband, he knocked me up three times (vaccinated me, also fertile). And, really? Roads? Bridges? Libraries? Anything?
We vaccinate our kids and don't care what anyone thinks, it's our kids.
We don't care if other parents do or don't, it's their kids.
We take responsibility for ours, they can take responsibility for theirs.
Yup, Jenner was wrong. Descombey was wrong. Sabin and Salk were wrong. These folks are right. After all, they can read. Yeeeeah.
Maybe someone should speak to the people who have lost their babies to whooping cough this year how they feel about vaccines? Funny how people who value education to the degree that they will spend tens of thousands on tuition don't educate themselves on the PROVEN lifesaving effects of vaccination and instead put stock in soft science of the anti-vaccinators.
Not all these vaccines are good. These profit driven companies kill a lot of people giving out stuff that is not good for folks. I agree some are good but I will not put them in me or my children. That is my choice after I read the labels of what they put in them. People die and that is life. Not all of us can be viable. Always have and always will be people dieing from lack of proper health.Not all of them are proven because profit forces these companies to give you bad meds and tell you it is good. Its a fine line. To be informed is best either way if you do take them and you do get sick then yo have a clue as to what caused it. Just be cautious with any dope that could possibly KILL YOU! Maybe someone should talk to all the girls parents who died from the wart vaccines for SYD that was proven ineffective? Goes both ways!
STD. I hate this keyboard
These vaccines are just a way to get billions in profit. After years of getting ill from them I stopped taking them and what do you know, no more flu! Sunshine does more good than flu shots. Most people that die from flu were vaccinated so it dont work! You are more likely to die from a lightning strike or bee sting than from getting something they say it will prevent, which it doesn't. I am all for clean vaccines if they are proven to work , but you will not shoot me up with anything. I ended up on a respirator from a reaction to flu vaccines. More people die from those shots than guns! LOOK THAT UP! Physicians are told by big pharma what to do and are taught these things because of the medical cult running our society through the AMA. Are not all cures found in nature? Do you know most disease is caused from lack of proper diet? Take charge of your life and stop listening to pharma companies that use you for a lab rat. I also have a family ember who has a chronic disease from the flu shot and is recovering through therapy and nutrition.
Wow....hantavirus will probably kill you. That'll shut you up!
LOL. I have been lets say working with good people like you for 25 years now and I am doing just fine. Damn quit trying to kill me off.lol
Why would you want to shut me up and kill me? Do you like seeing a million people mass murdered by Big Pharma drugs every year. Isnt that good for us? Take your vaccines! Its good for you I promise. Now they claim our diagnostic skils have improved so well that instead of 1 in 10,000 kids with autism its 1 in 100 approximately in 2012. The reality isnt that we are better, these shots are killing you!
Somebody doesn't know science, doesn't know the facts, and gets their medical fearmongering education from PR firms masquerading as medical journalists.
I guess you think hanta virus, swine flu, west nile, avian flu, anthrax, small pox, etc., is going to kill us all.
Somebody has been made a slave in their beliefs and fears.