|
|
|
|
|
Growing Number of Parents Use Religion to Avoid Vaccines
|
Many states are seeing increases in the rate of religious exemptions
from vaccinations claimed for kindergarteners, according to a review of
states' vaccination records and data from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention conducted by the Associated Press.
A
growing number of parents are claiming religious exemptions to avoid
vaccinations for their children because they are skeptical of the
shots’ effectiveness or are concerned about potential side effects,
including autism.
The number of parents choosing not to
vaccinate is still small, as only a few thousand children were not
vaccinated, compared with 3.7 million vaccinated, among children who
entered kindergarten in 2005.
While all 50 states have
immunization requirements, 28 allow parents to opt out for medical or
religious reasons. Another 20 states allow parents to opt out for
personal or philosophical reasons as well. Mississippi and West
Virginia allow parents to opt out for medical reasons only.
In
20 of the 28 states that allow exemptions for medical or religious
reasons, religious exemptions have doubled or tripled from 2003 to 2007.
Public
health officials say that un-vaccinated children could spread diseases
to others or trigger an outbreak that could put the lives of many at
risk.
Sources:
|
|
|
|
Did you find this article interesting?
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |