Since the measles outbreak
that began at Disneyland, California and six other states (and Mexico) have seen patients infected with the disease. If you read the comments in a lot of these articles in the major news networks (which I don't really advise, unless you enjoy the feeling of beating your head against your keyboard) people ask, why does this matter? Aren't only unvaccinated people affected? As long as you yourself are vaccinated, this shouldn't be an issue, right?
Wrong. Take Rhett Krawitt in Marin County, for example. He's a six-year-old kid who has been battling leukemia for over four years. That's over three years of chemo treatments. Now that he's in remission, he can't receive vaccinations. And this new measles outbreak poses a serious threat to him and other similar cases.
Rhett cannot be vaccinated, because his immune system is still rebuilding. It may be months more before his body is healthy enough to get all his immunizations. Until then, he depends on everyone around him for protection — what's known as herd immunity.
But Rhett lives in Marin County, Calif., a county with the dubious honor of having the highest rate of "personal belief exemptions" in the Bay Area and among the highest in the state. This school year, 6.45 percent of children in Marin have a personal belief exemption, which allows parents to lawfully send their children to school unvaccinated against communicable diseases like measles, polio, whooping cough and more.
Although no measles cases are known at Rhett's school currently,
30 babies have been isolated in the Bay Area in the past few days to prevent the outbreak from spreading. Rhett's oncologist, Dr. Goldsby, says, "It's not just Rhett. There are hundreds of other kids in the Bay Area that are going through cancer therapy, and it's not fair to them. They can't get immunized; they have to rely on their friends and colleagues and community to help protect them."
Rhett's father Carl Krawitt is concerned for the safety of his child, and is trying to change the policies at Rhett's elementary school.
[Carl] Krawitt is taking action of his own. His son attends Reed Elementary in Tiburon, a school with a 7 percent personal belief exemption rate. (The statewide average is 2.5 percent). Krawitt had previously worked with the school nurse to make sure that all the children in his son's class were fully vaccinated. He said the school was very helpful and accommodating.
Now Krawitt and his wife, Jodi, have emailed the district's superintendent, requesting that the district "require immunization as a condition of attendance, with the only exception being those who cannot medically be vaccinated."
The school hasn't directly responded, instead saying that they are "monitoring the situation closely" and will "ensure the safety" of students.
The legality of barring unvaccinated students is a gray area. But I'm glad the Krawitt family has brought this issue to light to show the importance of vaccinations—not just for yourself, but for those who are unable to get vaccinated for legitimate reasons.
"It's very emotional for me," [Carl Krawitt] said. "If you choose not to immunize your own child and your own child dies because they get measles, OK, that's your responsibility, that's your choice. But if your child gets sick and gets my child sick and my child dies, then ... your action has harmed my child."