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Santa Clarita Valley parents have dozens of preschool options for their children, and one thing to consider is the school’s vaccination policies.

Santa Clarita Pre-K’s Look Into Vaccination Policies

Santa Clarita Valley parents have dozens of preschool options for their children, and one thing to consider is the school’s vaccination policies.


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All 50 states have laws requiring certain vaccines for children, according to the Immunization Action Coalition, but each state allows for exemptions from those vaccines. California for example, allows a religious and a philosophical exemption.

However, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should, said Dr Rochelle C. Feldman, a local pediatrician.

“There is no reason to not vaccinate your children, and it’s incredibly selfish to not vaccinate your children,” Feldman said. “It is extreme ignorance, denial, futility, lack of appreciation of science, and a general expression of fear of larger agencies — it’s really a paranoia of organization.”

Feldman had her first positive measles test in 38 years last year.

In order to protect her patients who have an immune deficiency or who are under 1 year old and therefore too young to be vaccinated, Feldman has had to refuse unvaccinated patients. If a child gets sick due to an unvaccinated patient, Feldman could be liable for a property and malpractice lawsuit, she said.

A recent email to Tutor Time parents in the Santa Clarita Valley discussed the recent measles outbreak, stating, while there haven’t been any reported cases at the school: “More than 90 people have been reported to have contracted measles since the end of December, and the vast majority of these cases are part of an ongoing outbreak in Southern California.”

The email stressed the importance of vaccines, summed up the vaccination process, and said officials “are going through children’s files to ensure that current MMR vaccines are on file.”

“Vaccination is the most important strategy to prevent measles. Children routinely get their first dose of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine at 12 months old or later,” according to the email. “The second dose of MMR is usually administered before the child begins kindergarten but may also be given 1 month or more after the first dose. The health community recommends that anyone not already immunized against measles gets immunized at this time.”

Some parents at the preschool have signed personal belief statements that exempt their children from the vaccination requirements. To see how many parents at your child’s preschool have opted out of vaccines, visit here.

“For parents who have signed personal belief statements to not immunize,” said the email, “there is a new form from the Center for Disease Control that must be signed by your child’s pediatrician and yourself stating your choice not to immunize.”

A study in 2011 that was published by Public Health Reports, the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, looked at why parents opt out of vaccinating their children.

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The study found that those parents are more likely to have vaccine safety concerns and to “perceive fewer benefits associated with vaccines,” — despite the scientific evidence and debunking of a study that suggested vaccines could trigger autism.

“Most of these parents do believe vaccines are necessary to protect the health of their children,” according to the study. “But many also believe their children could suffer from the vaccines themselves.”

The study also found that families of unvaccinated kids are more likely to be:

  • Wealthier on average, with annual incomes more than four times the poverty level
  • Non-Hispanic white
  • Married couples in English-speaking households
  • Educated, with college degrees
  • Covered by private health insurance

Parents can opt in or opt of vaccines, but another issue is for infants at these schools who are too young to be vaccinated.

A Santa Monica day care has shut down this week because an infant there — who’s too young to get vaccinated — contracted measles, according to a CNN article.

The Samohi Infant Toddler Center inside Santa Monica High School, a facility for 24 young children of students and staff members, closed Monday after it was learned that a baby under 12 months old, being cared for at the school, had measles, according to the recent CNN article. It’s not clear when, where, or how the child contracted the disease.

The hot topic has even poured into the 2016 presidential race with Ron Paul, a member of a physicians’ group that espouses the belief that vaccines can cause autism, sparking strong reactions when he said in a recent interview that he’s heard of cases where vaccines have caused “profound mental disorders,” according to a CNN article.

“I don’t believe schools or daycares should ever allow unvaccinated children to be enrolled,” Feldman said.

Additional information about keeping your child healthy:

The CDC’s recommendations for preventing the spread of germs and disease, including:

  • Wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds, making sure to scrub the backs of hands, wrists, between fingers and under fingernails.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Use disposable/paper towels to dry hands; cloth towels can harbor bacteria.
  • Avoid close contact to people who are sick. When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick as well.
  • Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or shirt sleeve, not your hands.
  • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, like toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick.
  • Stay home when you are sick and keep sick children out of school.
KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Santa Clarita Pre-K’s Look Into Vaccination Policies

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About Kimberly Beers

Kimberly Beers is a Santa Clarita native. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2013. While attending the university, she focused her attention on news writing and worked as a primary news writer for the campus' award winning radio station and televised news program. She began writing news stories for KHTS in 2014 and hopes to have a lifetime career dedicated to writing and sharing the news