San Diego County Has Highest Growth in Vaccine Exemption
San Diego County saw a higher increase than any other county in the state last year in the number of incoming kindergartners who received philosophical exemptions from state vaccine requirements, according to a review by the Watchdog Institute. More than 1,300 San Diego County students received exemptions in 2010, up by more than 200 from 2009. The review found that half of the kindergarteners who received exemptions are enrolled in only 10% of the schools. Saad Omer -- an infectious diseases epidemiologist at Emory University -- said the clusters of exemptions could increase the risk of spreading vaccine-preventable diseases at the local level.
"More Parents Say No to Vaccines" (Crowe/Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8/17).
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