Unvaccinated Kids & Disclosure

Unfortunately un-vaccinated kids are allowed in public schools, and they do not have to let any O. know. So anyone too young to have been fully vaccinated is put at risk. Now that my children are both old enough to have all their vaccines I can breath a little easier, but there have been cases of babies dieing after being exposed to measles through un-vaccinated children. 90% of people exposed to measles without immunities will get it, and those with week systems, like elderly folks and babies too young to be vaccinated, will get very sick and can die. The reason things like measles and whooping cough are uncommon now is because of vaccines. I respect anyone's right to not vaccinate their child, but they should home school and avoid public parks and the like, because it is not right to put other people's children at risk because of that persons choice. Now that my kids are fully vaccinated I would not worry, but when my boys where younger I think that I would have a right to expect someone to tell me if their child was un-vaccinated, because things like measles can transmit acrossed a room, and is contagious days before any symptoms show. I would probably still let my child play with that child, but I would know to keep a special close eye on any issues.

The ones who say"well my kids are protected so why would I care", that is true once you child is 5 and has gotten all their shots, but before that point the child is not fully protected from many things, they need the second MMR, as well as some others they get around age 5, before they are fully protected. And what about younger siblings who may be exposed through secondary contact?

I have no issue with what families decide to do about vaccines. My assumption is that they have put some thought and research into this and are doing what is right for their family. It may be very different from what my family is doing, which is fine. It is irritating to me that this issue has become so political and people aren’t respectful of others decisions. I'd also like to point out that there are other issues with vaccines besides the possible link to Autism. My siblings and I are VERY allergic to vaccines. I had a severe reaction to a tetanus shot. My sister recently was hospitalized because she received a flu shot and had a severe reaction. Her doctor insisted she get the flu shot because she has a condition that normally warrants it. Even after this event he then insisted she get the h1n1 vaccine; fortunately another O. of her doctors was adamant that she didn't. I have found SOME doctors to be the worst about this. Even with my medical records in-hand I’ve had O. insist I get a tetanus shot and flu shot. I asked him about my history and what had changed that would make it okay for me now. I know there have been improvements to the shots, so felt it was a valid question. He basically stated I didn’t know what I was talking about and got too much of my information from the Internet and that I wouldn’t get Autism from it (I never said that!). As you can see this hits a hot button for me and I feel this polarization makes it difficult for us to get real answers.

States can't mandate being notified, there are un-vaccinated children. It's the parent's right to keep their children's medical history private. If there child comes to school, with the swine flu, then the school will notify students and parents of that. Not whether or not someone is vaccinated, though. Personally, I don't care if someone prefers to know about the status of my child. I generally don't have a problem discussing things like this. However, it's really no O.'s business.

My husband is a Peds Neurologist.....I totally wish parents of unvaccinated kids could see what happens to kids brains who have not been vaccinated who contract whatever disease brilliant scientists have spent years developing vaccinations for, all to keep children healthy and living a normal, productive life. The only reason parents can opt for this kind of choice in America is b/c the majority of children have been vaccinated for so many years that American's now don't know what the deadly consequences are any longer. My children are safe. Unvaccinated kids are all at risk and put all others at risk. And yes there are exceptions to the norm, i.e immune compromised babes, vaccination lots that were not effective.

Those that should be concerned: unvaccinated kids in contact with other unvaccinated kids and heaven help them if and when they travel outside the U.S. or Canada.

To address your question above: Why do people say that unvaccinted kids put other kids at risk?

The risk is all relative regarding the disease being exposed to and to the individual's immune system capabilities. If there is only a minor outbreak of a flu epidemic or other disease, then you have only a minor risk of being exposed to a less dangerous bug, so your individual immune system will not be taxed to fight back. The vaccination gives a person a running start as the antibodies have been injected, the individual's immune system has had time to build it's own defense or immunity to such disease. And as read in your responses, not all individuals receive vaccinations well. Vaccinations are not black and white / all or none. They assist the immune system, they help fight off potentially deadly diseases.

If on the other hand there is a major outbreak, think of plagues and flus, chicken pox that wiped out the Native Indians, and you are not vaccinated, then you are at risk of being exposed to a deadlier more aggressive, and probably drug resistant bug. O.'s chances of surviving are relative again to their own individual immune system. If O. is immune compromised or suppressed they are much greater risk of a poor outcome, i.e. the elderly and children. If O. is vaccinated, and they are relatively healthy, they stand a better chance for a happier outcome.

The biggest risk in all is being exposed to sick children and people, especially those who do not know they are sick, especially those children forced to attend daycare and child care centers and school very ill with fevers and productive coughs because their own parents can't afford to keep them at home until well.

Basic human hygiene and common sense are your best bet at all times: don't allow sick children over to play, don't play with sick children at school, wash you hands frequently, cover your mouth when you sneeze and cough, and I tell my kids they have right to tell those around them to cover up too.

And to remind s/o above about America being the land of the free...you have a choice, please remember how many newly landed immigrants live within your own community. They have certainly been recently exposed to others without proper vaccinations.

I do not know of any daycares, preschools, or public/private schools that does not require the student to have immunizations up-to-date.

The debte over to vaccinate or not is long and draining. After doing real research over the subject I decided to continue shots but to go to an alternative schedule.

The key is to make sure you are ACCURATELY informed. Reading popular mazines, or articles is not the way to go. Reading someones opinion over even a personal experience is not the way to go. Reading website or blogs specifically meant to cover for or against is not the way to go.Reading opinions on just parts of a study that do not cover all aspects, or just pick and choose what points to cover is definently not the way to go.

This is an issue reguarding a logical, factual, medical, scientific issue. You must make your decision based on that. Find medial journals, use research databases to look through data of the ORIGINAL, long, detailed actual studies. Then you can be confident that you are making the responsible choice for the safety or your children and everyone else.

To also give another perspective as to what potential harm can come to others when a child is not vaccinated and around others.

A few months ago in my daughter's preschool a boy(I don't know how because all students were required to show proof of vaccination, i know I had to) was found to have contracted rubella. I was in my first trimester, which during that time if you are exposed to rubella though you do not get the symptoms you can then pass it on to your unborn child, It has a 3/4 chance of causing birth deffects or miscarriage when exposed in the fisrt trimester. After an extremely expensive uncovered test I was found that I had not passed it onto the baby.
However O. of the teachers who was also pregnant had. She was luckily was in the second trimester so there was a lower chance of having any major effects. After a very stressful and worry filled pregnancy her baby girl was born healthy with no problems.

We both ended up with healthy babies but there was a huge chance that their lives could have been dramatically harmed or even lost because the parents chose not to vaccinate. They chose not to because of inaccurate info and uninformed opinions they heard and took as fact.

I hope you take some time to find things out for yourself :)

Schools and childcare will require vaccination records by law.

For me, knowing kids were unvaccinated would just make me sad for them and I'd know I wouldn't have much in common with the parents. My kids could still play with them, since they are protected.

ETA: The reason it's a concern when kids are unvaccinated is that they put very young kids (those who haven't had all their vaccines) at risk. This is why certain diseases that weren't a problem for decades have returned and become deadly again. Our pediatrician is a big advocate of vaccines and recently shook his head sadly when he explained to me all of the outbreaks he's learned about recently that didn't have to happen.

Also, I'm NOT interested in a personal exchange on this topic, so no private message about how you hate vaccines. Thanks.

In most if not all states there are waivers for public schools. In Washington, we have waivers for medical, religious, and personal/philosophical. The schools don't give us a hard time at all! I tell people that my kids aren't vaccinated. Some say "isn't that dangerous?" or "how are they in school?", which are clearly misinformed responses, since for some kids vaccines are dangerous, and our public schools are fine. Most people are intrigued and want to know more about why we don't, how it has affected us, etc. The moms I know, including myself, have done extensive research regarding the vaccines, side effects, ingredients, the diseases, and likelihood of catching them before making a very educated decision, O. that we felt was best for our family.

I think we should all respect each other's ability to do the same, even if it is different than what someone else does, all we can do is share what works for us and why, and support each others decisions and beliefs. I've never met someone who didn't want my kids around because they're not vaccinated. In fact, my kids are healthier (sick less often and for less time) than most kids they know!

I vaccinate. I have friends who do not. Some people make a huge deal out of it. I don't really understand why. You get your kids vaccinated to keep them from getting sick if they are exposed, so why do you freak if your kid is around someone who may or may not have been exposed themselves? If the vaccine is there to protect my child, my child will not get sick if they are around whatever they were vaccinated against. It's why they got the vaccine.

I wouldn't want to know the only thing I want to know is if a child is sick before they come over so we could reschedule.

I would like to be made aware of whether or not the child is vaccinated, but only because I have small infants I need to protect, and even then, my main concern would be pertussis. It would only make a difference if the friend was slightly ill and had not been vaccinated because pertussis begins like a simple cold.

I think it is important for all children who are not vaccinated to be identified and the parents be made aware that they made need to keep their children home even if they are mildly sick. My daughters' school was actually shut down a couple of years ago due to a pertussis outbreak because so many in the school weren't vaccinated. I did thorough research and immediately went out and got boosters for myself and my kids to protect not only ourselves, but any infants in our community. I also learned that with so low a herd immunity, that kids who were vaccinated could still get it or worse pass it along to others who would become very ill from it (ei: infants.)

Yes, unvaccinated kids are allowed to attend public school, and I wouldn't want to take away that right. As long as parents are willing to keep their children home as soon as they show ANY signs of being sick and keep them home until they are completely well, I feel it is important to give parents choice. My daughters' school has a very strict policy now around this issue to protect the community at large.

My understanding is unvaccinated kids put others (mostly babies) at risk by breaking down herd immunity. Pertussis is especially virulant without a strong herd immunity and used to be the number O. reason for infant mortality before the vaccine.

My eldest children are completely vaccinated except HPV, because I want to give them choice at this age. My twins are on an alternative schedule which will not include all vaccines and will be much more spread out. My reasoning is I want their immune systems to have a chance to build up antibodies more slowly; to not be bombarded by 7 viruses / bacteria all at once. In the research I have done, it seems that more adverse reactions happen when you give multiple shots at once. I also want to be able to track which shot caused the reaction if there is O.. Another reason to spread out the shots is to spread out the levels of aluminum so it never becomes dangerous. Most shots don't have mercury anymore, but now many have aluminum. There are a few vaccines I don't feel are necessary, so I will leave them out entirely.

I don't know about "we," I can only speak from my own experience. WIth my eldest daughters, I didn't think much about it, I just did what the ped said to do. Now, I am more informed and am choosing differently. It is hard to get clear answers from the internet, but I found Dr. Sears to have the middle ground quite well in hand in his "Vaccine Book," so that is what I am using as my guideline.

My oldest daughter has deadly reactions to most of the vaccines. I would pull her out of school very fast if there were an outbreak of anything in that list if i had to. My youngest has had no bad reactions so far, but i space out the shots and omit some that are very controversial (i just cant risk it)

I am very open about my reasons for it, and all the mothers i know are aware of it.

Unvaccinated put kids at risk because some kids arent vaccinated for reasons of poverty and just some parents dont know, and also some vaccines just flat out dont work and vaccinated kids are then at risk as well.

itd be nice if we could trust that the stuff wasnt going to take our children to a different place mentally , and make them sick.

People with children who are unaffected will not understand the positon of the people who have children who were affected by it, and vice versa. I think people are too quick to be closed minded about the subject because of their own experiences.

but such is life

My two oldest children are vaccinated, my youngest who has delays and is on the Autism spectrum is not fully vaccinated. We started him late on vaccines and have gone slowly on the ones we felt he would benefit more from having then not, there are some vaccines I would never get for any of my children as they are too new and they do not know the long term affects of. I feel as if my choices have been educated decisions. All my children attend public school. I have had to fill out paper work to enable them to. I have never worried about other children or even thought that I should bring this up in mixed company...to vaccinate or not has become such a heated topic that I avoid this conversation as much as I do not like to talk about my religious beliefs or political beliefs in mixed company...to me, it is a personal choice.

I live in PA, and we have medical and religious/philosophical exemptions for school. The exemption is on the back of the card you fill out with the vax chart on the front. All you have to do is claim a strong belief that the risks of vaccinating for xyz disease are greater than the benefits, or that you are religiously opposed to vaccinating. They allow you to selectively vax, you just have to explain why. We've never had any problems with this.

Other states are more stringent, but most have a medical exemption.

As far as playing with other kids, if their child is vaccinated, what are they worried about if your child is not? Their child should be protected, right? People with immune system problems are actually cautioned against being around those who have been recently vaccinated (I know this b/c of when my MIL was going through chemo for breast cancer, and she was told not to be around the grandkids for at least a month after they had received vaxes).

I cannot wrap my brain around why on earth someone would not vaccinate their child, but as long as my child is protected that is all I can control. My children are all kept up to date on all their shots so they are as protected as I can.

I do not see where the knowledge of whether a child is or is not changes the fact that mine are, so it does not matter if I know or not.

It is required to show proof that your child is up todate here to get into daycare, pre-k or schools, even clubs, and sports.

Each states vary on the attending for unvaccinated children. By law it is required, but you can exempt out, though you do have to provide a series of exemption paperwork. You can contact your state or isd to find out the requirements.

I would like to know. But because I vax my kids, there shouldn't be a big deal about my kids playing with them.

There are some vaxes that are required for school. But not all of them are.

I would like to know, just because I have a child who has a tendancy to get shingles, and I always want to know who to be even more careful to avoid or notify if she has an outbreak. I do not take chances with any O. elses health, that is just unfair and how I would like everyone else to treat me.

There have been many times when my duaghter came home from school, and noticed that she was breaking out with shingles just after she got in the car to ride home for instance, it would be nice to notify that family of the children she was sitting next to in school, if we knew that they were not vaccinated, so that if the would know that they have been exposed to chicken pox via the shingles.

I think it would also be nice to know if you had a newborn if the kids in your car pool or in the car on the way to a Brownie field trip, or at the soccer game, or any child who had contact with my older children who had a cough was not vaccinated for pertusis, especially with it spreading the way it is and how vulnerable babies are to pertussis before they are even old enough for a parent to make the decision to vaccinate them. I would never want to be responsble for having spread such a horrible illness myself, so I am getting the adult booster at my next appointment in two weeks, when I get my flu shot.

A few years ago, when Dr. Wakefield's study first came to light, you had to sign a form that it was against your releigion to vaccinate, and I know a family who lied with that form because their unvaccinated kids had nothing to do with their religion. Now, I think you can object on philisophical grounds, or something like that, in most states and you do not have to lie about it.

M.

Since my child could not be vaccinated for pertussis, yes, I would have liked to know if someone that she was close to hadn't had it by choice. Thankfully, I ran a very small in-home daycare when she was a baby and could check shot records. Other than that, I kept her safe by using a shopping cart cover and sanitizer when we were out.

Tori F posted almost the exact same thing I was typing. So, apologies if they sound so similar!

Parents decide what is best for their families - and I don't need disclosure about vaccination(s), only disclosure about an illness that their child(ren) might have at the time we're getting together. I know some parents who think nothing of taking their children out and about while they have the flu, because their children are vaccinated. It doesn't make sense to me, but not everything does. If/when my son is sick (which is only 3x in his 2-1/2yrs), I let everyone know that we're seeing the next week, and leave it up to them to decide if they want to be around us or not. I expect the same in return.

I don't get why this is such a hot topic, with so many not respecting others' decisions or being hateful or assuming about others' decisions. Our decision to do some vaccines has nothing to do with Autism. It has to do with our personal and familial histories of vaccine reactions (severe illness, temporary paralysis and others). It has to do with the FDA being so overworked and underfunded, that there's not much I trust about their 'approval'.

And it doesn't help that folks in the medical field do not agree - our peed hates what we are doing, my son's speciliast at Children's Hospital agrees with what we're doing, our family physician agrees with what we're doing. With the H1N1, two doctors told me they weren't getting the vaccine or recommending it.

We're all doing the best we can with the information we have available to us at the time.

I know a few parents who don't vaccinate because they feel that it is "poision" and just feel that it is unhealthy.
I don't have a problem vaccinating my kids and they have never had any type of reactions. However, I won't vaccinate them if they are sick or no more than O. shot at a time. I've heard stories of children getting as much as 4 or 5 shoots in order to keep up with the schedule. Also for those who choose not too I don't know how they manage to keep their kids in school. If my kids shots are comming due they start sending a letter home from the school telling me that they can't come back until they get the shoots that is required.
Where we live, there are several public schools that have free clinics inside for children who don't have health insurance. They are great they will come and get the child from the classroom give them their shot and send them back to class at no exspense to the parent.

As far as I know, unvaccinated kids can attend public school as long as they have a doctor's note as to why they are not vaccinated. That might vary between states and even between school districts.

If I had a child that was immune-system compromised and therefore, unable to get certain vaccines, I would want to know if the children they were around were unvaccinated. Maybe not specifically who is unvaccinated, but I'd like to know generally so I could have my child take precautions (extra handwashing, etc), if that makes sense.

ETA that since my kids have had all of their vaccines, I generally don't worry about these things, but I do appreciate notes home from the school when there is a contagious disease going around.

The reason nonvaccinated kids put others at risk is "herd immunity." (Kids who do get vaccines are in the process of being vaccinated. That's why there are boosters. If you are exposed to, say, pertussis when you aren't fully vaccinated you can get pertussis. It's on the comeback and is deathly.) Below I've posted the link to an article on herd immunity. It's not from a pro- or anti-vaccine website. It's from USA Today. And you can google it to find out more.

All the kids in my school have to be vaccinated to attend. And I am thankful for that.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-01-06-childhoodv...

I think it depends on the state that you live in, and what kind of opting out parents can do. I would love to know if the kids in my kids' classes weren't vaccinated, but I don't think this information can be made available to us. I know that my daycare requires vaccines, but I don't know about their opting out policy either. I "believe" in Idaho, all they have to say is that it is against their religion and they can't be made to do it. They don't even have to have any proof.

I wouldn't not let my kids be friends with them just because of this, but I would be more cautious when illnesses go around, and I would also like to know that MOST of the kids are vaccinated. It would scare me to learn that only a handful are, and are susceptible to all those that aren't.

I don't vaccinate my children with all the vaccines out there. There are several vaccines that contain cells from babies that were aborted. I don't do them. If I could get the same vaccines made with cells from some other source I would, but in this county(USA) those vaccines are not available. If they become available, I will then vaccinate my children with those vaccines. Until then, I try not to expose my children to others who have those diseases. If my children had all their vaccines, I don't think it would be necessary to know who was vaccinated or who wasn't.

Here in Minnesota, there is O. state form for daycares and school..from the MN Dept of Health. Anyone can sign the part saying they opt out of vaccinations ("conscientiously oppose them", or there is an alternate schedule section as well))...it just needs to be signed by a Notary and the parent. No big deal.

I do home childcare and have had only O. child do an alternate schedule in 13 years...which turned into having none done after the first set or 2, so we redid the form.

Bear in mind that vaccines are not 100% effective. That herd immunity means that not only the unvaccinated are protected, but that your child isn't the O. in whatever % that the vaccine didn't completely protect. It's not just babies, pregnant women, and the unvaccinated that are at risk in an outbreak.

I know a family who does not vaccinate their children and they do go to public school. I only know this because the O. in my daughter's grade had whooping cough in 3rd grade and the teacher did notify the parents in case there was anyone else not vaccinated against it. Otherwise, they don't disclose it, at least not that I'm aware of. I personally would never consider not vaccinating my children. My mother had whooping cough as a child and my father had polio and both of them agree that having to cope with these diseases as children were horrible experiences in their lives and they are thankful that our kids today can be vaccinated. I understand some people believe it can cause autism, however, most of the studies I've seen are inconclusive and with everything we eat, our environment, pesticides, etc. it could be anything that has caused the increase in autism.

most people vaccinate because they are afraid of what horrible rare dieases their children can catch.. because the fda, the cdc, and drug companies all work together to send that message out..
i wont be vaccinating because they can compromise her immune system and the vaccinated children and adults are walking around with live virus's right now... and spreading them.. also if my daughter isnt vaccinated meaning she doesnt have the chickenpox injected into her.. how can she give a disease to your child? does that make sense? she is untouched... also most of these diseases if you simply homebound your child for a week or so they get over them just like the cold.. and they get a free natural immunity to it.. without having to also be injected with mercury, aluminum and all kinds of crazy toxins...

I donot vaccinate because vaccinations are a part of tye depopulation agenda according to bill gates and in fact they are not for bettering the health of children.