High figure could lead to outbreak, state health official warns
Citing religious and medical reasons, 380 Ashland students
filed exemptions to mandated immunizations. That’s 11 percent of school
district enrollment, a rate beyond that of any other area in Oregon, said
health officials.
At the same time, another 287 Jackson County children were
banned from schools and other institutions Wednesday after they missed a state deadline
to receive shots or seek an exemption.
If banned children either receive their shots or an
exemption, they can return to school.
Lorraine Duncan, immunization
manager of the Oregon
Department of Human Services,
said Ashland’s exemption
numbers — 380 of 3,345
students, or about 11 percent of
the entire district — are “way
beyond the state average. You
just don’t see those kind of
rates.”
She also believes this is a recipe
for disaster: “When you have a
large school population that is
not vaccinated, the chances of
them coming down with
something are very good.”
Many other schools throughout
the county reported much lower
exemption rates.
Duncan said she would contact
the Jackson County Health and
Human Services Department to
push for more health education
at Ashland schools to increase
the number of students who
receive immunizations.
Children are required to have shots for tetanus and
diphtheria, hepatitis B, polio, chicken pox, measles, mumps and rubella.
Southern Oregon typically has the highest rates of
exemptions in the state for both religious and medical reasons, Duncan said.
For kindergarten and first grade, the statewide average in 1999-2000 was 1.46
percent of students, compared to Jackson County’s 2.27 percent.
Although she is concerned that Ashland parents are using
the religious exemption as an excuse to avoid shots, she said there is little
the state can do.
“We have to accept the religious exemptions,” Duncan said.
If an outbreak of one of the diseases occurs at a school,
students exempted from immunizations will not be allowed to attend until the
outbreak is over, which could take several weeks, Duncan said.
Ashland Middle School Principal Dale Rooklyn said many
parents are worried about the side effects of the immunizations. At his school,
105 of 800 students have filed exemptions.
“I think what I hear from parents is that they are
concerned about the safety of vaccines,” said Rooklyn.
Many parents remember bad effects from other
immunizations, while others are reluctant, but eventually agree, to get their
children vaccinated, he said.
“It’s a situation where someone considers the good as a
whole, versus the individual risk,” Rooklyn said.
Even the tiny Pinehurst School District in the mountains
east of Ashland filed six exemptions out of about 25 students. Teacher Marie
Mannatt said, “We had lots of religious waivers.” She said parents are also
concerned about the safety of the vaccines.
Despite Ashland’s high exemption rate, Jackson County
health official Vicki Barbour said her office has remained busy this week,
giving 135 doses of vaccine on Tuesday and 152 doses Wednesday.
“People came in here yesterday saying, ‘I can’t go back to
school,’ “ she said.
The health department calculated 287 children would be
excluded from schools, day care centers and other institutions, though not all organizations
had reported in.
From the 55 public schools in the county, 174 students
were excluded, the health department reported.
Middle schools had 66 exclusions, because this is the
first year that seventh-graders were required to have a second measles vaccine,
must be current on the hepatitis B series and should be immunized against or
provide a history of having had chicken pox.
The Jackson County Department of Health Services, as well
as officials at the 10 county middle schools, made an all-out effort to make sure
children received vaccinations.
Most middle schools reported low numbers of students
requesting exemptions.
“We spent hundreds of man hours calling parents whose
children needed the shots,” said Hedrick Middle School Principal Marjorie Lininger.
Her school didn’t exclude any children, but had 16 exemptions.
McLoughlin Middle School Principal Doug McKenzie said, “We
initially called hundreds of parents.” His school even conducted an on site
clinic, but finally had to exclude 20 out of a total 495 seventh graders. He
said the school only had a handful of exemptions.
The number of students who needed immunizations this year
hit a record 1,357 children in early February.
Getting all the kids their shots has been a lot of work
for most schools.
Rogue River Middle School excluded four students.
Secretary Johnny Smythe said, “It was like pulling teeth to get the parents to
get the shots. I’ve spent considerable
hours on this.”
Hanby Middle School in Gold Hill had to send only two
children home. Principal Mary Barker
said a county health nurse came out Wednesday to give about 25 shots.
“It was big help,” Barker said. “When you’re out in a
rural area like this its hard for the parents to take their kids in for the
shots.”
Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail
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