An outbreak of preventable diseases like measles among schoolchildren around the country has caused some states to tighten vaccination requirements and raised questions about who should be allowed to opt out of these requirements.
The University of Wyoming, like many public schools and universities, requires students have certain vaccinations to attend, but also allows exemptions.
UW requires students to show documentation of two measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines. The state of Wyoming requires many other vaccinations to attend K-12 school, including diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenzae type b, poliovirus, MMR, pneumococcal, rotavirus and varicella (chicken pox), according to the Wyoming Department of Health.
“Not only do [vaccinations] protect [students] against illness, but we know that a certain vaccination rate in the community population also provides herd immunity,” said Mary Beth Bender, interim director and primary care nurse practitioner at the University’s Student Health Center.
Herd immunity is when a majority of the population is immune to a disease, through vaccination, so people who cannot receive vaccinations will be indirectly protected from those illnesses. This includes young infants and babies, elders and those who have weak immune systems due to chronic illnesses or transplants.
Though she is not solely able to make these decisions, Bender would like to see more vaccinations required, such as the tetanus (which includes a pertussis booster), varicella and meningitis (especially for students living in close quarters), in the chance that students do not already have these.
“Even if they haven’t gotten beyond the MMR, we still encourage students to come in and maybe meet with a nurse or meet with one of the clinicians,” said Bender. “We would be happy to talk with anyone about vaccines that they may be missing or want or be recommended.”
There are exceptions to UW’s vaccination policy. Persons who are born before the year of 1956 are excluded since they most likely already have had the disease and have natural immunity. Those with religious reasons or those with medical reasons may also be excepted from the vaccination policy. The more exemptions issued, the greater the risk that not enough people are vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.
It is also important to note that vaccinations do not grant total immunity to illnesses. Vaccines can prevent death and some of the serious side effects that come with these diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The more people vaccinated, the more likely old diseases will be eradicated and not cause more outbreaks, like the recent measles outbreaks in Washington in New York.
In 2016 the Americas were declared the first region in the world to have eradicated measles, according to WHO. Because of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children, however, the U.S. lost this status.
Anti-vaccine sentiments originated in a now-debunked study conducted by Andrew Wakefield that concluded vaccines cause autism. In the ensuing “vaccine scare” about the detrimental effects of vaccines, many people refused to vaccinate their children.
The study turned out to be falsified, and Wakefield lost his medical license and credibility. Still, after countless studies have shown vaccines do not cause autism and are in fact harmless for most people, many Americans continue to be wary of or outright hostile to vaccines.
Students interested in receiving more vaccinations or wanting to the know the recommendations may visit the Student Health Center in the Student Health/Cheney International Buildingor their site at Uwyo.edu/shser/index.html.
