Colorado had the lowest childhood immunization rate among the 50 states in 2004. Only about 63 percent of our children are inoculated against such contagious diseases as whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis and meningitis.
It’s a sorry record, compared to a 75 percent average for all states. It’s time to reverse course.
The Colorado legislature has given final approval to a bill allowing parents to be notified when their children are due for immunization shots. We urge Gov. Bill Owens to sign the measure when it reaches his desk.
Senate Bill 87, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, and Rep. John Witwer, R-Jefferson County, is sorely needed. It’s important to note that it is a notification-only law. It does not require children to be immunized. When parents are informed that their children are due or overdue for an immunization, they will also be notified “of the option to refuse an immunization on the grounds of medical, religious or personal belief considerations.”
Witwer, a physician, said that notification of routine immunizations would be voluntary for parents who want such notification and who have allowed their children’s information to be included in a state-run database that tracks child immunizations since 1996. About 48 percent of Colorado’s children are currently included. Parental notification would only be required in the case of an epidemic – and even then, actual immunizations would still be optional.
The proposed law strikes a balance between the unquestioned benefits of immunizations and the religious or other objections some Colorado parents may have about the practice. The human body is so variable that no vaccine can be completely safe. But while taking a vaccine may pose a 1-in-a-million risk of serious illness or death for a child, contracting the disease itself may pose a 1-in-10 chance of death or crippling injury.
That’s why the federal Centers for Disease Control recommend that by age 2, children should have received 14 shots against 12 life-threatening diseases. Because families may move or change doctors, a child’s records can be incomplete, and parents may be unsure about what shots are needed when.
That’s where SB 87 can help out, by letting the state use its database to remind parents or guardians when their children are due for vaccinations. Once armed with up-to-date information, protecting your children’s lives and health is strictly up to you.
