--- title: School-vaccine waivers inject concern in experts date: 2005-08-01T08:47:58-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/schoolvaccine-waivers-inject-concern-in-experts" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / # School-vaccine waivers inject concern in experts But parents say opting not to have children get shots is a control issue By JENNIFER RADCLIFFE Houston Chronicle July 31, 2005, 8:23PM Thousands of parents across the state are exempting their children from required school vaccines, despite concerns that Texas is one of the most poorly immunized states in the nation. The state health department has mailed 36,993 affidavits to roughly 11,400 people interested in claiming the “conscientious objection,” created by the Legislature two years ago to give parents more flexibility to refuse shots. Though some parents applaud the law, medical experts fear that Texas — and the 17 other states that allow such broad philosophical exemptions — are sending the wrong message. Without the shots, they say, potentially fatal diseases such as measles and whooping cough could make a comeback. “In the area of public health, we typically have rules,” said Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “This replaces medical correctness with political correctness.” Parents can request affidavits for “conscientious objections” from the Texas Department of State Health Services. The form, which must be signed and notarized, replaces the state’s religious exemption, according to House Bill 2292. Parents still can seek medical waivers, too. “To me it’s an issue of parental rights,” said Rebecca Rex, a Houston mother and co-founder of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, which lobbied for the law for six years. “I feel like it gave parents more ability to control what’s done to their child.” Record keeping at the state level is spotty, but a survey conducted in spring 2004 showed that at least 2,314 schoolchildren were covered by philosophical exemptions. The Houston Independent School District, the largest in the state, was not among the 81 percent of public school districts that responded to that survey. Keeping track HISD officials, who track exemptions among kindergartners and seventh-graders, said 72 students in those grades took conscientious exemptions in 2004-05 and 545 students took medical exemptions. In Cypress-Fairbanks, 134 students districtwide took conscientious exemptions and 241 took medical exemptions. Though schools must track exemptions so that students without immunizations could be removed in case of an outbreak, the state is not allowed to keep databases of students with waivers. Still, state officials said they’re trying to compile more complete results so they could at least correlate any increases in exemptions with increases in disease rates. “We won’t be able to do that for at least three years,” said Monica Gamez, school immunization-compliance coordinator with the DSHS. Prior to the new law, children in Texas were exempted in 2002 from 33,426 shots for medical reasons and 21,238 shots for religious reasons. With little indication that exemptions increased significantly after the law, parents who support the “conscientious objection” said the low numbers prove that the state’s poor immunization rate can’t be blamed on the new law. Growing list of shots A study released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts Houston’s vaccination rate for toddlers at 65.5 percent, the second-lowest rate for an urban area in the nation. The lowest was El Paso County, with a rate of 64.8 percent. “It wasn’t like all these people were waiting at the floodgates to grab a form,” Rex said. “I haven’t seen this rush out there. It’s just that people feel more comfortable with the way they can go about it.” Rex and others said that a growing list of required shots likely will cause more parents to take pause. Children of certain ages now need the hepatitis A vaccine and pneumococcal disease vaccine to attend child care facilities and pre-kindergarten programs. Parents already have a range of concerns about vaccinations, including allergic reactions and links to autism. They said they should have this increased level of control. “Every disease is different, every vaccine is different, and every child is different,” said PROVE President Dawn Richardson, of Austin. Aldine mother Maria Garcia, who was getting shots for her 4-year-old son last week at La Nueva Casa de Amigos Health Center, said she’s never thought twice about immunizing her children. “I’m always had it in my mind that the babies always had to have the shots,” she said in Spanish through a translator. Called the best defense Advocates, though, said school districts should be more open about advertising the exemption. Too often the message they send is: “No shots, no school,” they said. South Houston resident Darla Ibarrola said she wishes she would have known about the exemptions when her son got his last shot in 2003. She attributes her 6-year-old’s autism to that shot, a hepatitis B vaccination. “I didn’t know it was an option. At that time, I believed by giving the vaccinations, I was doing the best for my children,” she said. “I jumped on the bandwagon.” Some public health officials insist that the vaccinations are the best way to protect public health. Texas had 497 cases of hepatitis B, 642 cases of whooping cough (also called pertussis) and 5,778 cases of chickenpox in 2004, according to health department statistics. “Without these immunizations, we run the risk of having a major outbreak,” said Kathy Barton, chief of public affairs for the city of Houston Department of Health. Diseases would spread quickly among children with low immunity, she said. Rather than focusing on the small percentage of parents — usually less than half of 1 percent — who exempt their children from vaccinations, advocates said public health experts should try to reach the 20 percent to 40 percent of parents who want and need vaccines for their children. F. Nan Wagoner, chairwoman of the Gulfton Immunization Initiative, said she’s been surprised to learn how many people in her community are not immunized. Many residents are recent immigrants, struggling with poverty, language barriers and a lack of education. “We’re talking about people who are walking around with terrible diseases that would kill us all,” said Wagoner, an attorney. If there was a pertussis or measles outbreak, “we could just have dead babies all over the news,” she said. “It’s kind of like turning back the clock 100 years.” Waiver process How to request a “reasons of conscience” waiver: ï Put it in writing: Send a written request that includes the full name of the child, the birth date, the legal guardian’s complete mailing address and the number of forms needed for each child to the Department of State Health Services Immunization Branch at 1100 West 49th St.; Austin, TX 78756. Requests can also be faxed to 512-458-7544. ï Response: Affidavit forms will be sent via U.S. Postal Service within one week from the receipt of the request. ï Time limit: The official Texas DSHS affidavit form must be notarized and submitted to school officials. The form must be submitted within 90 days from the date it is notarized. Free immunization Houston-area Rotary clubs are holding the following free immunization clinics for children this week: ï8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the East End Community Family Center, 7524 Ave. E ï8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Holy Ghost Catholic School, 6921 Chetwood ï10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Ripley House, 4410 Navigation ï More information: www.houstontx.gov/health/Immunizations/index.html www.cdc.gov/ www.tdh.state.tx.us/immunize/public.htm www.vaccineinfo.net/index.shtml jennifer.radcliffe@chron.com ### Other Hepatitis A Lawsuits [La Serranita Concha Negra Frozen Clam Hepatitis A Outbreak Lawsuits](https://marlerclark.com/la-serranita-concha-negra-frozen-clam-hepatitis-a-outbreak-lawsuits) [Washington and California Hepatitis A Outbreak linked to Imported Strawberries](https://marlerclark.com/washington-hepatitis-a-outbreak-linked-to-imported-strawberries) [Hepatitis A outbreak - Strawberries sicken 27 in Canada and United 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