GRAPHIC: Graphic created by The Signal Managing Editor Sam Savell. — Campus briefs graphic created by The Signal Managing Editor Sam Savell.

BRIEF: Unvaccinated schoolchildren on the rise in Houston

By The Signal On Jul 24, 2019 175 0

The Houston area is seeing a record-breaking number of unvaccinated children in schools. According to a new analysis of the latest state data, vaccine exemptions at schools throughout Harris County have increased 175 percent since 2010. With this increase, the HISD 2018-2019 kindergarten negligence rate for measles, mumps and rubella shot was about five times Texas’ normal rate.

Common places for these occurrences include Houston schools, particularly private schools, where the non-medical exemption rate ranges from 4 percent to 25 percent of the student population, and HISD schools where the negligence rates range from 16 percent to more than 40 percent.

This information follows a previous report that shows there were 64,176 exemptions filed for “reasons of conscience” at Texas schools in 2018-2019.

This coincides with a record-breaking national outbreak of measles, with there being 1,109 confirmed cases so far in 2019. 15 cases have been reported in Texas, with five in the Houston area.

These outbreaks have been attributed to growing rhetoric put out by the anti-vaccination movement. But the new information in general showed significant rate of negligence. 4.15 percent of HISD’s kindergartners had not requested an exemption but still did not fulfill their MMR requirement.

Children enrolled in school despite not having met vaccine requirements are not in compliance with Texas law. Under the law, schoolchildren are supposed to show proof they have received six vaccines by kindergarten: those for chickenpox, diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus, MMR, polio, hepatitis A and hepatitis B — all requiring more than one dose. By seventh grade, they also need to be vaccinated against meningitis.

HISD elementary schools with the highest MMR delinquency rates among kindergartners were Burbank (41 percent), Cunningham (30 percent), Crockett (28 percent), Atherton (27 percent), Dogan (24 percent) and Foerster (16 percent).

The Houston Health Department’s health centers offer vaccines to those without health insurance on a sliding-scale basis, either free, $5 or $15, depending on family income. The fee is for all shots needed at the time of a visit.