Credit:
Adam Cole/NPR with data from the Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
SB277 - California's Senate Bill Regarding Vaccination Requirements
In California, prior law indicated that all public schools needed to require proof of immunization against specific infectious diseases, including measles, mumps and pertussis, from all students before their admissions. However, students whose parents submitted letters of affidavit stating medical reasons or personal beliefs opposed to immunization would be exempted from this law. Prior law also required schools to ask students who were exposed to one of the specified diseases or showed any sign of that disease to temporarily stay home.
On June 30th 2015, 6 months after the controversial measles outbreak that started in Disneyland, California's governor Jerry Brown has signed a new bill that includes some significant changes to the vaccination requirements. The bill removes the exemption from prior law that was based only upon personal beliefs against vaccinations, except for specific cases approved by the State Department of Public Health for medical reasons or personal beliefs. Letters of affidavit signed by parents will not be sufficient to opt out from immunization anymore, unless these letters are submitted to the schools prior to January 1st 2016, but parents will still be required to follow the new law starting the next school year. Under the new law, children who are home-schooled or attending home-based private programs that do not involve class-room activities will be exempted. One notable change to the requirements asks schools to only temporarily exclude students who are exposed to one of the aforementioned diseases and do not have proof of immunization to that disease.
Source: 1, 2 & 3
On June 30th 2015, 6 months after the controversial measles outbreak that started in Disneyland, California's governor Jerry Brown has signed a new bill that includes some significant changes to the vaccination requirements. The bill removes the exemption from prior law that was based only upon personal beliefs against vaccinations, except for specific cases approved by the State Department of Public Health for medical reasons or personal beliefs. Letters of affidavit signed by parents will not be sufficient to opt out from immunization anymore, unless these letters are submitted to the schools prior to January 1st 2016, but parents will still be required to follow the new law starting the next school year. Under the new law, children who are home-schooled or attending home-based private programs that do not involve class-room activities will be exempted. One notable change to the requirements asks schools to only temporarily exclude students who are exposed to one of the aforementioned diseases and do not have proof of immunization to that disease.
Source: 1, 2 & 3
Removing Exemption and More: The Complete Package
While some "controversy" about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines can be found from various sources, an overwhelming majority of physicians and scientists view vaccines as safe and effective. To highlight this position the Wisconsin Medical Society recently released a position statement in support of removing all non-medical exemptions from state vaccination requirements. While changing the Wisconsin immunization exemptions is one way to improve the rates of immunizations, there are other strategies that can and should be used to improve immunization rates.
Some children who don't get immunized have parents who don't have any objection to getting their child immunized, but the child is still without the protection that vaccines provide. Some barriers are financial in nature. Even with the increases in the number of people with insurance, some still fall in the gap between eligibility for subsidies and qualifying for Medicaid, especially in the state that refused the proposed Medicaid expansion. Lower out-of-pocket costs have been show to correlate with higher vaccination rates. Another invention that has been shown to increase immunization rates is something as simple as a telephone call. Parents receive a call when vaccines for their children are due, or when they are behind schedule. Making vaccines available at more places can also increase rates. Programs in schools, day-cares, or pharmacies would make it more convenient for parents to have their children immunized. A related approach is to provide vaccines together with the WIC program.
I think that changing or removing the exemptions to getting vaccines is important and should be done. That isn't the end of the story, the other approaches I listed above and many more can and should be implemented.
If you'd like to read more, check out the papers I used as sources for this post here or here.
Some children who don't get immunized have parents who don't have any objection to getting their child immunized, but the child is still without the protection that vaccines provide. Some barriers are financial in nature. Even with the increases in the number of people with insurance, some still fall in the gap between eligibility for subsidies and qualifying for Medicaid, especially in the state that refused the proposed Medicaid expansion. Lower out-of-pocket costs have been show to correlate with higher vaccination rates. Another invention that has been shown to increase immunization rates is something as simple as a telephone call. Parents receive a call when vaccines for their children are due, or when they are behind schedule. Making vaccines available at more places can also increase rates. Programs in schools, day-cares, or pharmacies would make it more convenient for parents to have their children immunized. A related approach is to provide vaccines together with the WIC program.
I think that changing or removing the exemptions to getting vaccines is important and should be done. That isn't the end of the story, the other approaches I listed above and many more can and should be implemented.
If you'd like to read more, check out the papers I used as sources for this post here or here.
A Closer Look- Washington
With decreasing adherence to childhood vaccination mandates through 'opt-out' exemptions, states are facing public health crises as vaccination rates fall below necessary levels to maintain herd immunity. Evidence of the potential risks to our communities have been demonstrated in pertussis outbreaks in Washington and, most recently, measles outbreaks in Disneyland. Prior to legislation changes, opt-out rates increased fastest in states such as Washington- states with minimal exemption requirements.
What has Washington done to increase vaccination rates among school-aged children in response to these outbreaks? Physicians!
In order for Washington residents to obtain exemption for their child(ren), a written certification must be submitted by the parent or legal guardian stating religious, personal or philosophical objection. The form must also include a signed statement from a healthcare practitioner stating that the benefits and risks of immunization to the child have been reviewed.
This strategy works two fold. Foremost, it is the hope that requiring a conversation with one's primary care provider will provide patients with sound and supported information on the safety and benefits of vaccinations as well as the risks exemptions pose to their child(ren) and also their community. Requiring this visit also pushes the balance of convenience away from getting exemptions.
What has Washington done to increase vaccination rates among school-aged children in response to these outbreaks? Physicians!
In order for Washington residents to obtain exemption for their child(ren), a written certification must be submitted by the parent or legal guardian stating religious, personal or philosophical objection. The form must also include a signed statement from a healthcare practitioner stating that the benefits and risks of immunization to the child have been reviewed.
This strategy works two fold. Foremost, it is the hope that requiring a conversation with one's primary care provider will provide patients with sound and supported information on the safety and benefits of vaccinations as well as the risks exemptions pose to their child(ren) and also their community. Requiring this visit also pushes the balance of convenience away from getting exemptions.
5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Trust Celebrity Medical Advice
Sure, you’ve determined that celebrities are a go-to source
for style tips and gossip. You may think it makes sense to extend that trust to
advice about your health. Here are 5 examples that may make you consider making
a trip to the doctor instead.
1. Megan Fox: Drink vinegar to lose weight
“Vinegar cleanses out your system entirely. It will get rid
of, for women who retain water weight from your menstrual cycle and all that,
it gets rid of it really fast.” According to the Mayo Clinic, regularly
drinking vinegar will not only fail to cause weight loss, but it can even
interact with some medications and cause low potassium, a potentially
life-threatening condition.
2.
Dr. Oz: “Miraculous” diet pills
On raspberry ketones: “I’ve got the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat”. On Garcinia Cambogia: “It may be the simple solution you’ve been looking for to bust your body fat for good.” On Green coffee extract: “You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they found the magic weight-loss for every body type.”
The only miracle here is that he got away with calling diet pills “magic” The claims made for all 3 diet pills were found to be false.
3.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian: “Waist-training”
The Kardashians have famously endorsed wearing a corset-like
band while exercise to get that perfect, tiny waist. What you really get is some
difficulty breathing and a risk of breaking some ribs.
4. Shailene Woodley: Eating clay gets rid of “heavy metals”
"Clay is one of the best things you can put in your body...helps clean heavy metals out of your body." Woodley’s anecdotal evidence for this claim came from a friend’s metallic-smelling bowel movement after eating clay
Not only does clay do little to remove heavy metals from your body, but your liver and kidney can already do this just fine on their own.
5. Gwyneth Paltrow: Sun can’t be bad because it’s natural
"We’re human beings and the sun is the sun - how
can it be bad for you? I think we should all get sun and fresh air. I don’t think anything that is natural
can be bad for you." While no one is suggesting that you completely avoid
the sun, neglecting sun screen (and getting that tan) is a surefire way to
cause melanoma.
"I Did My Research"- Immunizations and Autism
The scientific community disagrees at times, true. However, when we disagree, we have numbers to prove our stance, backed up by statistical analysis. The better numbers win. That's the rule.
In the case of research surrounding the safety of vaccinations, the cause/relationship between the two has not been proven. There are multiple studies to prove this. Now what about those parents whose children were vaccinated and were later found to be autistic?
Well, in science we have a golden rule- correlation does not equate causation. Just because two things happen at once doesn't mean one caused the other. Same thing here.
Just to get you started, here are some recent studies refuting the cause/effect relationship:
and even one from 2004: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20669467
A quick Pubmed search will give you a longer list of published research that did not find that vaccines were linked to autism.
Worth noting is that the original study that linked the two had only 12 subjects. Since then, it has been marked as fraudulent. In addition, countless studies have been carried out to replicate this finding, and as you can see, were not very successful.
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