THE DATA ARE ALREADY OUT THERE. TEXAS SCHOOLS COLLECT AND KEEP THE STATS, AND THEY CAN HELP PARENTS MINIMIZE A VULNERABLE CHILD’S CHANCE OF CONTRACTING A LIFE-THREATENING DISEASE.


But when the state publishes the


data it collects from schools on stu- dent vaccinations, coverage and ex- emption numbers for entire school districts are as specific as it gets. Concerned parents hoping to find out which school campuses have the best or worst immunization cov- erage are out of luck. To Corpus Christi pediatrician


Daniel Vijjeswarapu, MD, pictured on page 25, and other physicians passionate about protecting vulner- able patients, that’s not good enough. “As a physician and an advocate


for my patients, and as a parent, I need to strengthen a parent’s right to make an informed decision about the child’s risk of contracting any vaccine-preventable disease,” said Dr. Vijjeswarapu, a member of the physician advisory panel for the Texas Medical Association’s Be Wise — ImmunizeSM


initiative. “Providing


[stats on] campus-level exemptions, it’s important. We have not only a moral but also an ethical obligation.” In Texas and around the nation,


significant numbers of parents still choose nonmedical exemptions from vaccination. That choice opens up a risk for children who are unvac- cinated for medical reasons, whose parents must be extra careful about where they go to school. In the 2015 legislative session, TMA supported a bill that would


26 TEXAS MEDICINE March 2017


have mandated campus-level vac- cine exemption reporting by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). That bill only made it through one chamber of the Texas Legislature, but lawmakers and TMA were planning to try again this session to give parents the infor- mation they need without compro- mising the privacy of children who take exemptions. Physicians hold hope that this


year’s dramatic national increase in cases of mumps, including an out- break in Texas, might give medicine- friendly lawmakers further opportu- nity to drive home the importance of vaccinating. “Protection from vaccine-prevent-


able infectious diseases comes not just from our personal immunity; it’s the immunity of what we have personally along with the immunity of everybody else, which creates the concept of herd immunity,” said Fort Worth-area pediatrician Jason Terk, MD, a member of TMA’s Council on Legislation and of the Be Wise


— Immunize Advisory Panel. “And when that herd immunity is degrad- ed to a certain level, then the oppor- tunity for outbreak occurs. I think that should resonate for people who make decisions about vaccinations based upon good science. There are people who are not operating on that level, though.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60