In recent years many parents have been subjected to mostly word-of-mouth claims that vaccines that safeguard children from measles, mumps, rubella and other diseases can be linked to everything from autism to death. As a result, more and more parents have refused to get their kids immunized, putting those children and others at risk.
The new study, the first comprehensive safety review in 17 years from a panel of medical professionals assembled by the Institute of Medicine, debunks many of the health-risk myths and should convince parents that immunizations improve the health of children and the community.
The study comes at the start of the school year, when new students must prove their immunization status before they can be admitted. But it also comes at a time when state lawmakers have passed legislation that seeks to boost the number of kids receiving vaccines.
This summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta came out with a report saying Washington is home to the nation’s highest rate of parents exempting their children from vaccines.
In its first-of-a-kind report, the CDC said that 6.2 percent of kindergartners in the state have parent-signed exemptions for one or more vaccines for diseases such as polio, whooping cough, measles, hepatitis B, chickenpox and other deadly diseases.
But under a law passed by the 2011 Legislature, parents will be forced to consult with a physician on the advantages and disadvantages of immunizations before they can get their child exempted.
Senate Bill 5005 passed the Senate on a vote of 34-12 and the House 66-29. It was signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire on May 10.
We agree with the bill sponsor, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, who said the new law will lead to more informed parents and thus should reduce the number of children who enter school without proper vaccines.
SB 5005 requires that parents who want to exempt their child from school immunization requirements sign and submit a form to the school district. The form must cite either medical, religious or personal objections and must include a statement, signed by a health care practitioner, that the parent or guardian has been informed of the benefits and risks of the immunization to the child. The medical provider can be a licensed physician, naturopath, physician assistant or advanced registered nurse practitioner.
It’s our hope that the change in law will lead to parents with more knowledge about the consequences of their actions. The risks of classrooms filled with unvaccinated kids far outweigh the minimal side effects identified in the new Institute of Medicine study. The study concluded that vaccines can cause certain side effects but serious ones appear very rare. And the study again found no link between vaccines and autism or Type 1 diabetes.
The review by the medical professionals came at the request of the government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which as the name implies, pays damages to people who are injured by vaccines. Federal law requires this type of independent review as officials update side effects on that list to be sure they agree with the latest science.
“Vaccines are important tools in preventing serious infectious disease across the lifespan, from infancy through adulthood. All health care interventions, however, carry the possibility of risk and vaccines are no exception,” said pediatrician and bioethicist Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton of Vanderbilt University, who chaired the panel.
The report stresses that vaccines generally are safe, but found evidence of some side effects which include everything from fainting to seizures.
But parents looking for reassurance that immunizing their children is the right thing to do will draw strength from the new study. Parents understand they play a pivotal role in the health and wellbeing of a community when they make certain their children are vaccinated against deadly diseases.
