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OPINION
Public health and safety

Tighten vaccination loopholes: Our view

States that still allow easy opt-outs should follow Vermont and California.

The Editorial Board
USA Today
Vaccination supporter Jennifer Wonnacott and her son after Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the bill June 30, 2015, in Sacramento.

No parent in the United States today should have to worry about a child catching measles, a highly contagious disease that was virtually wiped out in this country 15 years ago. But many parents are worried, and with good reason.

Measles is making a comeback, fueled by an intense anti-vaccine movement, shoddy research and lax laws in about 20 states.

Last year, the U.S. saw 668 cases. Midway through 2015, about 180 people across half the states have been sickened. Many cases were linked to an outbreak at California's Disneyland, and most of those who've fallen ill were never vaccinated. Last week, Washington state reported the first death from measles in the U.S. in 12 years.

Now, two states, which had weak laws that contributed to the problem, are finally doing what's needed to stop the leading edge of a public health hazard. The remaining 18 states with lax laws should follow suit.

A California law signed June 30 mandates vaccinations for all children enrolling in school or day care — even if parents have a personal or religious objection. With that, California joined Mississippi and West Virginia as the strictest states in the nation, which allow vaccine exemptions only for medical reasons. Vermont's law, passed in May, strikes the right balance by getting rid of philosophical exemptions but allowing exemptions for strictly defined religious reasons.

While California might have gone too far by eliminating any religious exemption, tighter laws are just what the doctor ordered.

Mandates and high vaccination rates in the U.S. have all but eliminated measles and eradicated horrific diseases, ranging from smallpox to polio. But the safety-in-numbers protection, known as herd immunity, has been threatened in the past decade by parents who opt out and ride free on the rest of the herd.

Eighteen states still allow exemptions for ill-defined "personal" or "philosophical" reasons. The impact? Innocents, such as infants too young to get vaccinated or children who for medical reasons cannot be vaccinated, are put at risk.

The number of measles cases might sound small, but often the parents who refuse to vaccinate live in clusters in certain school districts or communities, driving vaccination rates far below the 95% range that ensures protection. In California, for example, dozens of schools have vaccination rates below 50%.

Parents who opt out may believe they are protecting their children from the tiny risks of vaccination, but they are leaving their children vulnerable, not only to their peers but also to measles carried by travelers from nations with low vaccination rates. Disneyland's outbreak last December likely began with foreign visitors.

For those who contract measles, the danger of complications is far higher than most parents realize. One in every 20 children with measles gets pneumonia. About one in 1,000 will develop encephalitis, which can leave a child deaf or mentally impaired. And one or two of every 1,000 will die. Stacked against an extremely low rate of complications from the vaccine, a fact-based decision should be easy.

Parents ought to be able to opt out for very narrowly defined medical or religious reasons, but not because of personal opinions or something written by a celebrity on the Internet. States that still make opt-outs easy should look to Vermont and California for a better way.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

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