Pertussis Rates Linked to Exemptions
Study Links High Vaccine Exemption Rates to Pertussis (November 2006)
A study published in the October 11, 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association showed a direct relationship between the incidence of children who, by parental choice, did not receive vaccines and the incidence of whooping cough (pertussis). Further, the researchers showed that the areas with more exemptors had laws that made it easier for people to choose against immunization.
Although most people have their children immunized, some do not for medical, religious, or philosophical (personal) reasons. While all states allow for medical exemptions and 48 allow for religious exemptions, 19 states allow for philosophical exemptions. In addition, states have different procedures for recording exemptions. Some states simply require a parent's signature while other states require a signature from a local health department official, explanatory letter, annual renewal, or notarization.
The researchers, led by Daniel Salmon, PhD, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, studied vaccine exemption rates for children entering kindergarten or first grade and compared the rates in states that had only medical and religious exemptions with states that allowed all three types of exemptions. States that allowed for philosophical exemptions had more exemptors than those that only allowed for religious and medical exemptions. Similarly, states that had easy exemption procedures had higher numbers of exemptors than those that had more stringent procedures.
The authors then studied rates of pertussis in each state and compared them with the stringency of philosophical exemptions. Salmon found that the easier it was to obtain a philosophical exemption, the greater the number of exemptors and the greater the number of children with pertussis.
Reviewed: November 2006
Contact Us
We would like to hear from you, please use our online form to contact us with questions or comments.
- Parents PACK
Related Specialties and Services
