Schools and Vaccines

Eowyn

Fri, Sep 26 2008, 12:57 pm

Hi All - I didn't see this topic here, but I have a question so I thought I'd ask it. I apologize in advance if it's been asked before!

For my own reasons, I'm an declining the varicella vaccine. I do NOT want my children to have it. I know in public schools, you can claim a religious exemption, and they will be fine with the lack of vaccination.

What do you do for a frum school? It's not like I can fake a religious reason when there isn't one. Has anyone gotten an exemption for a vaccine from their school?

Clarissa

Fri, Sep 26 2008, 12:58 pm

My school is very strict about this. No shots, no school.

Ruchel

Fri, Sep 26 2008, 12:59 pm

I would never fake a religious reason - what if they verify? what if a yid happens to work there? what if it causes a chillul Hashem?

Maybe you can have your doctor write a note about how your child can't have this vaccine, especially since it's not done everywhere and not a bad disease.

Good screenname by the way!

Eowyn

Fri, Sep 26 2008, 1:31 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Thanks

Well I couldn't fake a reason anyways in a frum school, now could I? I believe in public schools, you just have to say you declined the shot for religious reasons - don't have to go any further than that.

I know my ped won't lie and say my kids can't have the vaccine. Theoretically, they can. I'm just against it. My ped is frum so when I declined the shot, he just told me we'd do it later since the schools require it.

ss321

Sat, Sep 27 2008, 9:34 pm

im probably one of the most pro vaccine posters on this site, but I am also not big on varicella. I thought it wasnt required-plscheck w/ your doctor. its not like mmr to the best of my knowledge. check the cdc website, but im pretty sure its just "recommnded"

GAMZu

Sat, Sep 27 2008, 11:46 pm

The school doesn't really care, so if you want to use a religious reason you can (mitzva to take care of the body, and you feel that giving vaccines violates that mitzva.)
The school only wants to be good with the board of health. If they come and check, and a kid doesn't have all vaccines, they can get in trouble. But if that very kid has an exemption, religious, health or whatever, then the school is fine.

A couple of things, though.
You can only get a religious exemption if you never vaccinated. It's like, if your religion forbids it, you can't give any vaccines, technically. So you can't space them.

A medical exemption can only be given to someone who is REALLY sick, like with cancer, chas v'sholom.

There is nothing to do for delays. But you are not required to be 100% up to date for school. You just need certain ones.
So I give those first and leave the others for later.

HealthCoach

Sat, Sep 27 2008, 11:57 pm

There is something called a medical exemption. That means you believe that medically the varicella vaccine is not good for your kids. Let me know how it goes if you use it. I plan on giving all vaccines, but the prevnar one is becoming mandatory, and to me that's just ridiculous. BTW, varicella is mandatory based on the year you were born.

GAMZu

Sun, Sep 28 2008, 12:42 am

Little Engine, I was told by my doctor that a medical exemption can only be obtained at the doctor's initiative. If the doctor feels that the child can't have it at all for a medical reason.

ss321

Sun, Sep 28 2008, 12:46 am

to the best of my knowldege the medical exemption is for people with cancer or certain immunodeficiencies which make it dangerous for them to be vaccinated. a parent saying "I dont believe x is medically necessary" doesnt consitute a medical opinion. A physician can theoretically obtain a medical exemption if THEY dont believe it is medically necessary, but surprise surprise most doctors actually believe in vaccination. OTOH, I am not the only one in my class who said I have no intention of giving VCV...my pediatrician's kids got the chicken pox, not the vaccine, so I think that this vaccine has more "leeway" thann something like MMR>

leomom

Sun, Sep 28 2008, 12:48 am

ss321 wrote:

Hi ss321, I have a question for you -- and I am asking out of curiosity and with total respect for your point of view. Since you aren't big on the varicella vaccine, but support the idea of mandatory vaccination in general and the rationale for that, what would you do if/when varivax becomes mandatory in your state?

Or, for example, Gardasil for girls? Something that makes you think twice about its safety or necessity.... would you give it to your child anyway, for the "greater good" or for the sake of being compliant with the law? Or would you refuse those selected vaccines that you don't agree with?

Hoping you take this in the spirit of discussion in which it's offered!

ss321

Sun, Sep 28 2008, 1:45 am

yy wrote:

totally not annoyed about your q at all! happens to be my husband and I just had this discussion last wk after leaving the pediatrician. I guess I am lucky in that, being that by the x my kids are of school age, I will have graduated from medical school. therefore, I am fairly confident that I would be able to obtain a medical exemption w the help of my pediatrician without much of a debate.

the other way out of it, (I think-I migh be wrong- even in the states where it is mandatory)- - like if I couldnt get the medical exemption - if you supply the state w/ proof of immunity (in other words - get a blood test showing your kid has the antibodies to chicken pox becuase he had the chicken pox), I think you are exempt. if it were mandatory, and I couldnt get the exemption, seriously, I would find someone w/ chicken pox, haul my kiddies over there, and have them hug the kid and share his drinks w/ him. why am I so into my kids getting the chicken pox? because I had shingles. 2 wks before I took the MCAT (I guess I was that stressed!). trust me, it make chicken pox seem like a walk in the park. we dont know the long term ramificationsof this vaccine, or much about its effectiveness 20, 30 years down the rd, whereas MMR has been around for long enough, that we see that it works.

yy wrote:

Or, for example, Gardasil for girls? Something that makes you think twice about its safety or necessity.... would you give it to your child anyway, for the "greater good" or for the sake of being compliant with the law? Or would you refuse those selected vaccines that you don't agree with?

gardasil I am not sure about. the idea of it being required absolutely sickens me. I feel like it says so much about where our society has fallen to, which is just sad.

So It hapens to be, I think in many cases, hepatitis is totally unnecessary. in fact, I dont do hepatitis in the hospital (at 2 days)-and I have to sign a waiver. I do it at 8 wks.Why? I am definitely not the natural type, and I dont belive in "splitting" vaccines-I am actually adamantly opposed to doing so, but I just felt, my kids are at low (or no) risk. the only exposure they would have to hep would be thru me (due to my being in med school and the high risk environments I might be exposed to at the hospital), and I am on leave. so why have them endure this at 2 days old? when I bring them in at 2 mos for their first shots, we do hepatitis then.

BUT if im not going back to school till next summer, why bother altogether, right? where on earth would they come in contact with it?? There are just SO many scary what -ifs in today disgusting world. My friend told me that her doctor told her(I know this is second hand info-but still!)-he saw a pt-very yuppy, upper class, upper east side type, who didnt give hepatitis because why on earth would my kids come in contact w/ such scum-right? and she took them to a beach in THE HAMPTONS nonetheless, and one of her kids was digging in the sand was stuck with a HEP-B INFECTED hypodermic needle. as far fetched as it sounds, I dont want to take the risk!! so right now, thinking about the issue of gardasil, all I could think woudl be what happens if someone is chv raped??? but I still dont think it should be required. as for what I WILL DO? I am going to say honestly- I really dont know!!
hope my answers helped a bit...

leomom

Sun, Sep 28 2008, 2:00 am

Thanks for the response!

I've been pretty open on this board about being for vaccination choice. Many posters have responded to the idea of choice with shock or anger that parents would choose not to vaccinate against certain diseases, in their opinion putting others at risk.

But you have explained very clearly how a parent who is open-minded about vaccines, and generally supportive of vaccines, might oppose specific ones, or the timing of certain ones. Then you can find yourself in the position of trying to get an exemption to avoid giving those vaccines. (As a doctor, you will have an advantage that many parents don't have.)

Of course, people's opinions about particular vaccines will differ, based on their understanding of the data we have and on their children's medical histories. So while MMR (for example) might be acceptable to you because of its track record, for someone else, MMR might not be acceptable.

All of this is just to say that I believe that which vaccines to put into our children's bodies is really a very personal decision that all parents should be allowed to make for themselves.

(P.S. about Gardasil -- I'm sure you've been reading about the side effects that have been cropping up among girls who have gotten the vaccine... and about the overall lack of data showing effectiveness or safety... and the fact that millions of girls need to be vaccinated to prevent approximately one death due to cervical cancer.)

Last edited by leomom on Wed, Oct 08 2008, 1:33 am; edited 1 time in total

Gsanmb

Tue, Oct 07 2008, 9:49 pm

As for medical exemptions, we have a partial one because my ds had a VAERS-reported serious reaction to one (HiB) as an infant. So he doesn't get that one at all; and the others we resumed at age 30 months and have spaced them out, individually. AT this point he's nearly caught up in terms of what is mandated for pre-school attendance (and that is the minimum, what we're doing).

However for the medical exemp on the HiB all we did was have the doctor write a note and it was put in his file. The yeshiva's nurse was fine with that in terms of the Board of Health, etc.