Vaccine exemption rates have increased over last 5 years in North Texas schools
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Vaccine exemption rates have increased in virtually all North Texas school districts in the past five years, according to state records.
Doctors are worried it makes the community more vulnerable to outbreaks of diseases like the measles.
"Measles, mumps and rubella, diphtheria, Hep A - all these vaccines that are really helpful in preventing terrible diseases from impacting our children's lives are being neglected," said Dr. Shane Fernando, a clinical epidemiologist at the UNT Health Science Center.
Fernando and other doctors believe concerns and misinformation about the COVID vaccine generated some mistrust of vaccines in general.
Parents in Texas can bypass vaccine requirements for school by filing a conscientious exemption, citing philosophical or religious beliefs to any or all of the shots.
In the past ten years, the vaccine exemption rate has nearly doubled in Tarrant County and tripled in Dallas County.
"My girls both attend school with exemptions," said Rebecca Hardy, president of Texans for Vaccine Choice. "We have seen an increase in families reaching out to us for help navigating the exemption process."
Hardy says the organization supports the right of parents to decide which vaccines their children should receive.
She also believes the pandemic served as a catalyst for a lot of families.
"So many of them really do have similar stories of, I was dismissed as a patient at our family's pediatrician because I dared to even ask a vaccine question," Hardy said. "Those attitudes are simply going to push more parents to seek exemptions."
Some school districts in the metroplex have seen greater increases than others.
In Birdville ISD, 175 students filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2019. For this school year, that number is up to 1,000
In Mesquite ISD, there were 83 students with exemptions for the 2018-2019 school year. This year, it's 600.
"It's a major concern," Dr. Fernando said. "I don't see it going away quickly."
Dr. Fernando says if more families continue to opt out of childhood immunizations, North Texas will be put at a higher risk for a major outbreak.
"We're probably going to see more measles again," he said. "These are diseases that nobody wants to see. They're very dangerous. They can cause lasting impacts."
Research shows for vaccines to be most effective in preventing the spread of disease, at least 95 percent of the community needs to be vaccinated.
More than three percent of the student body filed a vaccine exemption in Keller, Northwest, and McKinney ISDs last year. Denton, Grapevine-Colleyville, Allen and Frisco ISDs weren't far behind, with between 2.5-3%.