Officials: Mich.'s Vaccination Rates Are Dropping
EAST LANSING (AP) — Doctors and public health officials are warning that immunization rates have dropped in Michigan and are urging parents to get their kids vaccinated.
The Michigan Department of Community Health and the Michigan State Medical Society will hold a Thursday news conference in East Lansing to detail "startling" new statistics from the federal Centers for Disease Control. Officials say immunization rates in Michigan are falling despite recent outbreaks of whooping cough and measles.
The state wants to remind people about the importance of vaccines.
The state requires parents enrolling children in school for the first time to provide vaccination records. Parents can exempt children for religious or philosophical reasons.
Those children may be excluded from school but only if a public health authority advises it as a disease control measure.
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