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In order to receive an education in Arkansas, students must be vaccinated against certain communicable diseases, unless they meet the exemption criteria set by state health agencies.
Cindy Mitchell, chief nurse of the Fort Smith Public Schools, wrote Wednesday in an email to the Times Record that the district abides by the Arkansas Health Board's rules on immunization.
Children attending one of the district's campuses must be vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP); the recall of the DTP, Tdap; polio; Hepatitis A and B; varicella; and meningococcus. Preschoolers should also be vaccinated against pneumococcus and Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type B).
Mitchell said families are allowed to apply for an immunization exemption through the state 's Department of Health for medical, religious or philosophical reasons. These will only be granted if specific criteria are met and students who benefit from exemptions may be excluded from school in the event of an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease.
There are 135 students in the district with an exemption for at least one required immunization.
"The exclusion occurs on instruction from the Arkansas Department of Health and is specific to the epidemic of the disease with respect to the number of hours excluded from it. school, "said Mitchell. "This would happen to limit subsequent transmission to unvaccinated students, thus limiting the spread of the disease."
Mitchell said the state was setting vaccination standards and that the district was simply enforcing the obligation. She added that the proper vaccinations have been protecting against the disease for many years, but that parents should talk to their child's doctor.
"We encourage parents to get vaccinated when asked to do so, but respect the choices they have to make," Mitchell said.
Vaccines in higher education
Full-time students and those who live on the campus of Arkansas University in Fort Smith are also required to provide proof that they have received the MMR vaccine, that they are immunized, that they benefited from an exemption or a birth before 1957 before they could be admitted.
Letters from the Department of Health granting immunity and permitted exemption as well as official federal or state identification to students born before January 1, 1957 must be submitted to the archives office. of the UAFS to waive the requirements for vaccination. A student file will be put on hold until the appropriate documents are received.
There is also a risk of contracting meningococcal disease among those "living in close neighborhoods," according to an email from Rachel Putman, acting communications director of UAFS. The university recommends that all students living on campus receive the vaccine.
The vaccination policies of the Arkansas Health Education Colleges and the Arkansas College of Osteopathy are slightly different due to the differences in interaction between medical students and masters of medicine students, said the Dean of ARCOM, Rance McClain.
ARCOM, however, requires immunization against MMR, chicken pox, hepatitis B, Tdap and polio.
McClain said that immunization waiver requests would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. ARCOM, however, shares a similar policy with organizations overseeing medical education in the country and local hospitals and clinics where students serve during their stay at school.
"If we allow a student to give up a vaccination, we can not guarantee that a hospital they work with will allow them to participate," McClain wrote in an e-mail to The Times Record. "Since I have been a member of ARCOM, we have not received any requests of this type."
The college follows standard medical education by teaching the process of vaccine development and effectiveness, McClain said. He draws his messages from research on a large population and clinical trials.
For those who may be concerned about the presence of chemicals such as formaldehyde in vaccines, McClain told research that the research shows no evidence of the harmful effects of these compounds because of the small amounts present.
McClain does not want people to just take his word, though.
"I encourage everyone to do their research and base their personal decisions on evidence provided by reputable organizations and supported by clinical research," McClain said.
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