By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — The rule in Oklahoma is simple: Your kid has to be immunized before they can attend school.

In fact, the law applies to all students — whether they attend public, private or parochial schools — and states that “no minor child shall be admitted to any public, private, or parochial school operating in this state” unless the child’s family can prove the child “has received, or is in the process of receiving, immunizations” for at least eight different diseases.

Those diseases include: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), measles (rubeola), rubella, poliomyelitis, varicella, and hepatitis A or is likely to be immune as a result of the disease.



Other options

But there is an out.

Under the same law, parents can choose not have their child immunized — that is, request an exemption — simply by filing a written document.

According to the law, “any minor child, through the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child” may submit to the “health authority charged with the enforcement of the immunization laws...a certificate requesting an exemption from the law.”

That request, the law states, can be based on an objection by the parent, or be a statement from a licensed physician stating the “physical condition of the child is such that immunization would endanger the life or health of the child.”

And it’s that out that concerns some public health officials.

“It is a concern when we have people that choose to not immunize their children,” says Cleveland County Health Department Administrator Shari Kinney. “I think some people are counting on ‘herd immunity’ to protect their children.

And though Kinney acknowledges that lack of immunizations isn’t a major problem in Cleveland County, it’s the rise in communicable diseases which is becoming an issue for public health officials.

“I would say there’s not a large number of people here who choose not to immunize their children,” she said. “But, at the same time, we’re seeing an increase in communicable diseases.”

Kinney said increases in illnesses such as whooping cough or measles raise concerns of public health officials. “The more children who are not immunized, the higher the risk that there will be a re-emergence of communicable disease.” she said.

Other than Smallpox, Kinney said “most of the major communicable diseases have not been eradicated.” And with unimmunized children, “there’s a potential they (the diseases) could be reintroduced.”

Still while some parents object to immunization on philosophical or religious grounds, a growing number of families are choosing not to immunize their children because of a fear of autism.

“We certainly do have parents who are concerned,” Kinney said. “Particularly with parents who have autistic children. But I don’t think there’s good data to support that, nonetheless, some people are concerned, and they do have that option to decline.”



Seeking change

The problem has caught the attention of state lawmakers.

Earlier year Norman lawmaker Rep. Scott Martin, a Republican, said he talked with families of autistic children who believe their child’s autism was caused by immunizations given to the children. Martin, a relatively new father himself, said he felt the issue needed to be studied.

Martin was one of only a handful of lawmakers who voted to bring a bill to floor of the Oklahoma House which would have provided insurance coverage for autism.“As a new father these issues are very serious,” he said.

Martin wasn’t the only state official concerned by the possible autism-immunization link.

Four years ago, state Rep. State Rep. Darrell Gilbert, D-Tulsa, requested a legislative study on the use of ethylmercury-laced preservative called thimerosal used to control unwanted bacteria outbreaks in multi-dose bottles of flu vaccine.

“With what’s happening on a national level, it’s good to hear there is an effort to remove thimerosal as a preservative in influenza vaccinations,” Gilbert said in a media release issued in 2004. At that time, Gilbert noted, many families and some medical researchers “expressed concerns about a potential link between health problems, particularly autism in children, and vaccines containing thimerosal.”

Yet even with the debate surrounding the issue, Kinney said there is little, if any evidence which proves the immunization-autism link.

“The risk of your child dying of a communicable disease is probably greater than the risk of autism,” she said. And, because most immunization programs are so successful, Kinney said the benefits of immunization far outweigh the risks.

She isn’t alone in that belief.

Like she has in the past, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Sandy Garrett will promote immunization for school-aged children this year.

“The state superintendent does a lot of public affairs type efforts (for immunization),” said Garrett’s spokeswoman, Shelly Hickman. “She’s out speaking about it, to encourage people to immunize their kids.”

This year, Hickman said, Garrett will appear in a public service announcement from the McDonald’s Corporation urging parents to immunize their children.

And, with more than 641,000 students enrolled the state’s public schools, the need for childhood immunization is high. “Most people are pretty aware of the need to have their children immunized to get into school and daycare,” Kinney said.

To help accomplish that, Kinney said the county health department will again hold immunization clinics for school-aged children.

“It’s being stretched out during the year,” she said. “So we’re not so overwhelming with kids coming in August. People are coming in earlier which is a good thing.”