Post by pavel on Jan 26, 2016 5:18:13 GMT -6
DALLAS (AP) — Tucked into a hillside not far from a popular nature preserve, the private Austin Waldorf School touts its individualized learning and emphasis on moral purpose. But the school with an enrollment of nearly 400 is different in another way: Nearly half its students forgo vaccinations, one of the highest rates in Texas.
Four years ago fully half its students received a "conscientious exemption" from at least one of the federally recommended vaccinations, a rate that's since dipped slightly to 48 percent, according to figures provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The school is a striking example of a statewide rise in exemptions that concerns public health officials and runs contrary to efforts in California and elsewhere to ensure more students are immunized.
Texas is one of 18 states that allow parents to cite religion or personal beliefs in exempting their school-age children from vaccination. In 2007 there were more than 10,000 students exempted and that number soared to nearly 41,000 in the last school year. Texas began allowing exemptions for reasons of conscience in 2003. A year later, some 3,000 students had received one.
Read more: www.theeagle.com/news/nation/texas-health-officials-wary-of-rise-in-unvaccinated-students/article_f6a1ade1-2a6c-5368-9856-244c6b7dec36.html
Four years ago fully half its students received a "conscientious exemption" from at least one of the federally recommended vaccinations, a rate that's since dipped slightly to 48 percent, according to figures provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The school is a striking example of a statewide rise in exemptions that concerns public health officials and runs contrary to efforts in California and elsewhere to ensure more students are immunized.
Texas is one of 18 states that allow parents to cite religion or personal beliefs in exempting their school-age children from vaccination. In 2007 there were more than 10,000 students exempted and that number soared to nearly 41,000 in the last school year. Texas began allowing exemptions for reasons of conscience in 2003. A year later, some 3,000 students had received one.
Read more: www.theeagle.com/news/nation/texas-health-officials-wary-of-rise-in-unvaccinated-students/article_f6a1ade1-2a6c-5368-9856-244c6b7dec36.html