http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010315measles2.asp

 

Many families ignoring required measles shots

Thursday, March 15, 2001

By Jane Elizabeth, Post-Gazette Education Writer

School officials across the state expect they'll have to turn away thousands of children from their classrooms on May 1 because the students have failed to get a newly required second measles immunization.

The April 30 deadline for students to prove they've had the shot is still weeks away. But judging by the numbers of parents who haven't complied -- despite two years of official nagging by schools, health departments, pediatricians and others -- many school administrators aren't optimistic.

Up until now, only one measles shot -- usually given when the child was 12 to 15 months old -- had been required. Now the state is requiring a second shot. And children who have not had the shot, no matter their age, need to get it.

"We're down to the wire, and we're hearing all these school nurses saying that we have so many kids" without proof of the immunization, said Alice Gray, director of the division of immunization for the state Health Department in Harrisburg. "It's very unfortunate."

The most recent survey of school districts, conducted last school year, showed that 29 percent of all K-12 students in Pennsylvania still hadn't complied with the regulation.

That's about 638,000 students statewide.

In Woodland Hills School District, around 1,200 of the district's 5,700 students either haven't had the measles shot or haven't proved it. By state law, they cannot enter the school on May 1 if they haven't provided documentation of the immunization.

The district has sent at least five notices to the homes of all students. "We haven't gotten much of a response," said Audrey Stoner of the district's public relations office. Another letter will go out next week, she said, and Allegheny County Health Department nurses will visit schools on two days to administer shots.

Until 1997, children needed only one measles immunization -- commonly given as MMR or measles-mumps-rubella -- to enter school. But on the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, Pennsylvania began mandating a second measles shot for all children entering kindergarten.

That was in 1997. So why the foot-dragging?

The new regulation added a twist that schools and parents haven't had to deal with before: All students, not just children enrolling in school for the first time, must have that second shot by 2001.

These days, most parents are aware that kindergartners need many shots -- mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio and hepatitis B. But now parents who haven't taken their teens for regular pediatric visits in years must get their children another measles shot -- or they won't be allowed on school grounds.

"I suspect that many parents don't believe we would do that," said Bruce Thomas, assistant superintendent in Penn Hills School District.

But by law, they must. So in recent days, the measles campaign has escalated to a furious level. Some districts, including Avonworth and Pittsburgh, are setting up free measles immunization clinics. Others are referring parents to the free immunizations at health clinics.

In Penn Hills, where about 7 percent of the district's 6,000 students have not complied, registered letters are being mailed.

"We think that will make the parents sit up and take notice," said Thomas. He said he he believes that by April 30 "a few dozen" students still will not have their proof of immunization.

In West Mifflin, an estimated 4 percent of elementary school students -- whose compliance is generally higher than older students -- still need their measles shots. Principals at each school have sent warning letters to parents, according to school spokeswoman Rachel Hatthorn.

Schools could have denied entry to students who didn't have the shots when school began last fall. But nearly all gave students the allowed eight-month grace period -- along with several reminders to get the shots.

Still, some parents have been caught unaware. Nicole Harris received a letter from Penn Hills School District recently that her 9-year-old stepson still needed the shot. She's not sure if her 8-year-old daughter is up-to-date, but will find out tomorrow at her regular pediatric checkup.

"No one ever said anything" about the need for another immunization, said Harris. But she believed the letter that said her stepson wouldn't be allowed back in school without it, and took him to the doctor last week.

Other parents have complained about the hassle and the cost of getting medical paperwork, especially under ever-changing health insurance plans, from their doctors.

Dr. Bradley J. Bradford, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Mercy Hospital, said he believes that most students have had the shots and that parents simply haven't provided proof to the school.

What's the danger of allowing those students -- non-immunized or undocumented -- into the classroom?

There really isn't much danger, he said. "Obviously we're not in a situation where we have a wild endemic measles virus," he said. "The risk is low. But the law should be followed."

For more information, contact your school district; the Immunization Division, Pennsylvania Department of Health, (717) 787-5681; the Allegheny County Health Department, 412-687-ACHD, or on the Internet at http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/achd/

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.