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Immunization exemptions for reasons of conscience continue to increase in Frisco, as an increasing number of measles cases are reported across the country.
The exemption rate for Frisco ISD has increased from 1.52% to 2.4% since the 2012-13 school year, while rates for Leadership Prep School and Legacy Christian Academy have increased to 5, 8% and 6.4%, respectively. Schools are not required to report vaccines that students choose not to receive.
Nationally, the 940 cases of measles reported this year up to May 24 are the highest number since Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have declared the eradication of the disease in 2000 in the United States.
The majority of people who contracted measles were unvaccinated, according to the CDC.
According to the Texas Department of Health, two cases of measles were reported on May 31 in Collin County and one in Denton County.
Measles is so contagious that experts said that as many as 95% of the population needed to be vaccinated to prevent an outbreak. Leadership training schools, Legacy Christian Academy, and a FISD school have exemption rates above 5%, but it is unclear whether these students are exempt from the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. of the MMR vaccine.
The counties of Collin and Denton are following the trend of other places in Texas, as more and more people choose not to vaccinate their children, said Juan Rodriguez, the county's chief epidemiologist. Denton.
Rodriguez said he expects exemption rates to continue to rise as diseases, such as whooping cough and measles, make a comeback.
"The reason that fewer and fewer people have stopped having these diseases is because of vaccinations," he said. "These diseases have almost been eliminated and they are now resurging because people are choosing not to vaccinate."
Dr. Jawaid Asghar, chief epidemiologist for Collin County, said that the most educated parents are often those who choose not to vaccinate their children.
"There is hesitation and misinformation," he said. "In addition, studies that have been conducted on autism and MMR, the CDC have proved that this was not true, but there is still a lot of misinformation on the market. [vaccinations]. "
Vaccines are essential for the protection of the community as a whole, said Chris Van Deusen, DSHS Director of Media Relations.
"It's enough for a person who is not immune to travel to Europe or Asia, where measles is much more prevalent than here, and it comes back and is in a community or population where vaccination rates are weak for some reason. "Said Van Deusen. "It could spread very, very quickly."
The Texas legislature passed a law in 2003 allowing immunization exemptions for "reasons of conscience". An exception of conscience allows a student not to use a vaccine if there is a religious, philosophical or moral objection to it. Texas also allows exemptions for medical reasons.
Exemptions from conscience require a notarized letter from the guardian of the child and remain valid for two years.
According to Texas law, public and private schools require that students receive six mandatory vaccinations before they can enroll in kindergarten.
These vaccines are designed to prevent chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis A and B. Texas students should receive two doses of MMR with the first dose received on or after the first birthday.
A seventh vaccine is also needed for students to enroll in grade seven. This vaccine protects against meningitis.
Vaccines work by helping the body develop immunity against disease, said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children's Health and a professor at UT Southwestern.
"For example, the measles vaccine is a weakened strain of the measles virus," he said. "It's a strain of virus that, although it can not cause disease, is basically so similar to true measles [virus]once exposed, it develops an immune response to this vaccine, which protects it from measles. "
Van Deusen said that vaccines are not foolproof, but that they are very effective. The measles vaccine, for example, is 97% effective, he said.
"Yet, there is 3% of the population who, even if they were taking these two doses, for whatever reason, their immune system would simply not respond and they could still get measles if they did not get it. they were exposed to it, "he said. I said.
Most people who contract measles are able to heal completely, but some people may have persistent health problems or even die from them, Van Deusen said. Babies can not receive the MMR vaccine before the age of one year.
"The most vulnerable people are very young children. Babies, the elderly or those with underlying health problems are much more vulnerable to serious complications, "he said.
Mary Barnes, a local resident, said parents should not be vaccinated. Barnes said that his sons had been fully vaccinated until the age of 10 and 12 years. But after she had a negative reaction to the vaccination, she decided to stop vaccinating her children.
"I absolutely think that the choice should be [left to]parents, or individuals in the case of adults, especially in cases of genetic health problems, which is a contraindication to vaccination, "she said.
Sheacy Thompson, director of public relations for Leadership Prep School, said in a statement that the school would inform the DSHS immediately if a student contracted a known infectious disease.
"Leadership Prep School takes seriously the responsibility to protect the health and safety of our students and employees and would adopt its procedure to inform families, teachers and staff of the possible exposure and common signs and symptoms of the disease" said Thompson.
Legacy Christian Academy declined to comment.
Meghan Cone, Deputy Director of Communications for FISD, said the district would rely on the expertise of local health officials and the state if an epidemic broke out in a school.
Cone said FISD was trying to adapt to all parents by providing information on both mandatory vaccines and exemption forms. The district offers vaccination clinics in conjunction with the registration of new students. FISD also tells parents about other local clinics where students can get vaccinated.
"We follow the law," said Cone. "The law states that you must have vaccines to go to school, but the law also offers parents the opportunity to apply for an exemption if they wish."
Sherelle Black, Emily Davis, Olivia Lueckemeyer and Cassidy Ritter contributed to this story.
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