More Utah parents opt out of immunizations for kids

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (KUTV) — The Utah Department of Health recently compiled numbers that show more Utah children are being exempted from immunizations by their parents. That’s very close to the five-percent threshold that health officials say puts “herd immunity” at risk.

According to Rich Lakin, Immunization Manager for UDOH, herd immunity occurs when 95 percent of the population is immunized; that protects babies and medically vulnerable people who can’t be immunized. When less than 95 percent of the population is vaccinated, the herd immunity is compromised.

The latest numbers are based on reports from all Utah public schools reporting and all but 14 private schools (which include some daycares).

Those numbers show that 4.61 percent of Utah children in kindergarten or preschool were exempted from immunizations in 2014-2015. That up from 4.33 percent the year before. That amounts to 2,315 kids out of 50,000 are not immunized.

“Since we have seen an increase in exemptions, we are going to see an increase in disease,” said Lakin who admits that while the UDOH has been stepping up its messaging on the benefits of immunization, some parents are not buying that message.

The areas with the highest immunization exemption rates, based on numbers from 2009-2013 are Summit County, Tri-County (Duchsene, Vernal) and the southwest which includes St. George.

Lakin said the vaccine most commonly refused by parents is the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella). He added that parents who exempt kids from shots do so for religious or medical reasons — but mostly for personal reasons. Many of those parents don’t believe in vaccines. Some he said, still believe that vaccines cause autism — a theory he says has been debunked by researchers. The doctor who spread that theory through his own research has lost his license.

Some parents pass on immunizations for fear their child will have a serious allergic reaction.

According to the CDC, most allergic reactions to vaccines are minor. Although serious reactions can occur, the CDC says the chances of that happening are about one in 1 million.

Lakin said the 2015 outbreak of measles at Disneyland, in which 20 people were infected, shows how quickly one person can spread the highly-contagious disease to others. Most of those infected in that outbreak were exempted from immunizations.