Des Moines Register Criticizes Exemptions from Immunizations

        On December 26, the Des Moines Register published an editorial on the risks to individual children and the public when parents obtain exemptions from immunizing their children.  Entitled "For the sake of all, use vaccines," it points out that 3220 Iowa schoolchildren had religious or medical exemptions from immunization last year.

        Rita Swan, President of CHILD, submitted the letter below, which was published January 11:

        Religious exemptions from immunizations are increasing in Iowa.  In the 1990-1991 school year, there were 1,117 Iowa K-12 children with religious exemptions from immunizations among a total K-12 enrollment of 512,676.  In the 2005-2006 school year, there were 2,005 Iowa K-12 children with religious exemptions from immunizations among a total K-12 enrollment of 504,765.  While our school enrollment has actually declined since 1990, religious exemptions from immunizations have gone up by nearly 80% in the same period.

        Such religious exemptions have caused many outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease nationwide.  The largest measles outbreak in the country since 1992 was started by one child who had a religious exemption from immunizations.  The disease spread to 247 persons, nearly all of them children, and far beyond the child’s church.

        In 2004 Iowa had a measles outbreak started by students with religious exemptions from immunization.  Although aggressive action by the Iowa Department of Public Health limited it to three cases, it still cost $142,000 to contain.

        While exemptions for medically fragile children are in the best interest of those children, religious exemptions from immunizations do not, in our view, benefit either individual children or the public.   They place the exempted children at greatly increased risk for disease.  They necessitate increased use of antibiotics, which in turn contributes to development of antibiotic-resistant viruses and bacteria.  They lower the level of protection for the entire community.

        On January 26, a letter by the lobbyist for the Christian Science churches appeared in the newspaper.  It claimed that exclusive reliance on prayer was a safe way to prevent contagious disease.  Several readers voiced their disagreement online.