California Laws Abet Whooping Cough

By: Katharine Mieszkowski

While California health officials are trying to combat the whooping cough epidemic by urging the public to get vaccinated, state law is working against them.

As Christina Jewett over at California Watch points out, the state makes it very easy for parents to opt out of vaccinations required for their children to go school. Some states require a letter explaining why a child should be exempt or a notarized form, according to a 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In California, a parent need only sign a pre-written statement on the school immunization form. Ironically, it’s actually easier for parents to exempt a child than it is for them to comply. To prove a child has received the required shots, a health care provider must transcribe the dates vaccines were administered from the child's medical records onto the form.

Making it easy for parents and kids to skip vaccinations has serious public-health consequences. The same 2006 study found that states, like California, with the easiest exemption policies see 90 percent more whooping cough cases than other states.

As the Bay Citizen previously reported, Marin County, which has a relatively high rate of parents opting kids out of vaccinations, has been hard-hit by whooping cough this year. California is also lax in the vaccinations it requires. The state does not demand a pertussis booster shot for children entering middle school, while some 39 other states do.