There is a movement in the U. S. for parents to opt out of having their young children vaccinated.

Twenty states currently allow “personal belief exemptions” when it comes to having a child vaccinated: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued findings that with more kids not being vaccinated, the United States is now experiencing its largest measles outbreak in 15 years. Experts have also blamed a recent resurgence in cases of whooping cough (pertussis), especially in California, on fewer children being vaccinated.

A new study finds that at some schools in California, where parents can opt out of having their children vaccinated, one out of every five kindergarten students is not vaccinated.  This puts those not vaccinated at risk of preventable infectious diseases, as well as other children at the school.

These are schools “where we might be concerned that ‘herd immunity’ has been compromised,” warned lead study author Alison Buttenheim, an assistant professor in family and community health at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

“Herd immunity is the protection offered to unimmunized people when most people are immunized or otherwise unsusceptible,” she explained. “For example, our herd immunity against measles protects infants, up to age 1, who are too young to receive the MMR [measles, mumps, rubella] shot.”

Dr. Buttenheim added that “schools are an important site of exposure for children. All of our measures point to increasing exposure to intentionally  not vaccinated children among California kindergarteners, a worrisome trend.”

The researchers deemed as “hot spots” schools where more than 20 of 100 children claimed personal belief exemptions.

The researchers found that in 2010, for every 100 children in a California kindergarten, 2.3 had not been vaccinated due to one or more personal belief exemptions. These exempted children tended to cluster in certain schools, typically attending schools where an average of almost 16 of every 100 of their peers also claimed exemptions.

In some schools, more than one in five kindergartners had parental exemptions for not being vaccinated, the study found.

“This looks like an important study, one that’s consistent with what we’ve been learning about philosophical and personal exemptions,” said Dr. Lance Rodewald, director of the immunization services division at the CDC. “Studies done in the past show that the easier it is to get an exemption, the more likely a child will get one. Other studies show that the easier it is to get an exemption, the lower the coverage levels.”

Rodewald said climbing exemption rates can have far-reaching consequences — even for children who get vaccinated.”It does matter for non-exempted children. While with measles vaccination, one dose gives 95 percent protection, the pertussis [whooping cough] vaccine is very good but not perfect. Pertussis wears off over time. [So] even if a child was vaccinated, it’s still possible to get pertussis,” Rodewald explained. “With a lot of exempters, you can attract an outbreak. We’re seeing a lot of pertussis right now.”

Dr. Buttenheim agreed. “Making sure your children are up to date on the recommended immunization schedule is an easy, safe and effective way to protect your child’s health,” she said. “However, no vaccine is 100 percent effective. Your vaccinated child still has a very small — but not zero — probability of contracting a vaccine-preventable disease if exposed.”

Why are parents opting out of having their children vaccinated?

According to Dr. Buttenheim “Parents choose not to have their children vaccinated for many reasons. To generalize across this diverse group, they perceive the risks associated with vaccines to be greater than the risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases. While there is a very strong scientific consensus that this calculation is not correct, we cannot simply ignore or dismiss parental vaccine hesitancy.

One big fear that many parents have but now has been proven false,  is the fear that having their child vaccinated for measles-mumps-rubella might raise the autism risk for their child. In 1998, a small but widely publicized study appeared to link childhood MMR vaccination to nine cases of autism. The study appeared in the medical journal The Lancet, which retracted the study in 2010. In January of this year, an investigation by another leading British journal, BMJ, denounced the findings as deliberately fraudulent. But the damage was done.”

“In general, parents do value vaccines but exemptions do happen,” said Dr. Rodewald, a pediatrician with the CDC and director of their immunization services division,  “Parents have a lot of questions and they want to make sure that vaccines are effective and safe. It’s important that health professionals like pediatricians, nurse practitioners and school nurses be able to answer questions for parents so they can make informed decisions; decisions of knowledge and strength.”

For a detailed illustration of  Herd Immunity, go to http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/pages/communityimmunity.aspx

SOURCES: Alison M. Buttenheim, Ph.D., assistant professor, nursing, department of family and community health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia; Lance Rodewald, M.D., pediatrician and director, immunization services division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Our post about volunteering with the elderly is by Amy Shoemaker, an author who writes about nursing homes and the importance of volunteering. Her website focuses on nursing home abuse and how the general public can stop this phenomenon.

Volunteering is always a great activity your family can do together to become closer, learn, and take on new experiences.

When you get your children interested in volunteering at a young age, they will be able to learn more and they will have the drive to volunteer on their own in the future. Inspiring your child to volunteer will start in your home. If your children see that you are excited about volunteering, they will be more likely to follow your example. As parents, it is our responsibility to get them started so that they will continue to be charitable throughout their lives.

Getting your children involved doesn’t have to be difficult. You don’t need to go on a month long mission trip to South America to volunteer. Start with a weekly trip to your local nursing home. Your child’s smile could make someone’s day, and they will learn a lot more during their visits than you could imagine.

Involvement is the key to keeping children interested, and helping the elderly will do just that. Depending on the age of your children and the capabilities of the elderly you visit, there can be a wide variety of activities your family can do when volunteering.

Some of the people you visit may like gardening, but they have difficulty bending over to do some of the tasks gardening requires. By helping them, your children could learn about working hard to reach a goal and healthy eating as well. Maybe your child has just started to learn to read. You could have them read to many people at once, or one person in the nursing home could sit down with them and help them learn. The possibilities are truly endless, and you can use your child’s strengths to help them stay interested in the project and improve on their skills in the process.

Your children could especially help those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Combining children and these elderly people will not only benefit the children, but the elderly as well. Research has shown that these elderly people become more interested in others, get more exercise, fall less, and feel happier and more loved after spending time with children. Their loved ones have said that they seem more engaged and less isolated. This same research showed that these children will usually have higher social development scores, fewer behavioral problems, and enhanced perceptions of older adults. Also, children who have been involved in programs with the elderly have been proven to have a better vocabulary as well as better reading skills.

You may think that you won’t have time to share these wonderful experiences with your children. When you work long hours or have many other commitments that are keeping you from volunteering, it may seem impossible to take on another task.

However, you need to remember how important your time will be for those you are helping and for your children’s future. With just a little bit of your time, you will be able to show your children how important volunteering is to the community, and you will leave each visit feeling more fulfilled.

Volunteering helps create new friendships, and it will also help you feel a purpose in your life. Your children will learn these skills while they are volunteering as well, and the experiences they have will affect the rest of their lives.

In the Journal of Pediatrics news release of Oct. 6, 2011 there is a report on a study illustrating that food commercials have a strong impact on children’s food choices, but parents can lessen the effects of these ads.

The study encompassed 75 children aged 3 to 5 watching two cartoons, with a commercial between each cartoon. Half the children viewed a commercial for apple slices with dipping sauce and half viewed a commercial for French fries.

When the cartoons and commercials were over, the children were given the choice of a coupon for one of the advertised food items, with input from their parents. Half of the parents were told to encourage their child to select the healthy food, while the other half were told to remain neutral.

Of the children who viewed the commercial for French fries, 71 percent chose the coupon for French fries if their parents remained neutral, while only 55 percent chose the coupon for French fries if their parents encouraged them to choose the healthy food.

Of the children who saw the commercial for apple slices, 46 percent chose the coupon for French fries if their parents remained neutral, while only 33 percent picked the coupon for French fries if their parents encouraged them to make the healthy choice.

“Children were clearly influenced by the commercials they saw; however, parents are not powerless,” noted study author Dr. Christopher Ferguson of Texas A&M International University, in a journal news release.

While the impact of food commercials on children is considerable, Ferguson said that, “Parents have an advantage if they are consistent with their long-term message about healthy eating.”

Showcases is now open in the “Can Do” Street Mall featuring unique programs, activities and services for parents and their young children.

The first three programs of many to be featured on Showcases in the months to come are:

• A Pinch of Salt -a demonstration of a dessert that parents can make with their children
• Kids Are Heroes –about kids making a difference by helping others
• Canine Companions –a service dog making a difference for a boy with a physical disability

If you are looking for free craft projects, lesson plans and educational materials for children 3-7 years, spend some time in the “Can Do” Street Mall checking out the Crafts/Games and Teaching Resources.

Take advantage of the free materials that are there for your use. The materials are the work of parents, grandparents, educators, recreation and crafts personnel.

Each week we add more resources, shared by individuals, organizations and companies with the hope that you will visit their sites and make use of the 1,000s of free materials that they offer.

There is no catch, no hidden costs to using the free materials you find on the sites that list in the mall.

Prior to listing each of the free sites in the mall, the staff of “Can Do” Street check out the content to make sure it is suitable for out audience of parents, teachers and other adults involved in the care of young children .

To list your site in either Crafts and Games or Teaching Resources the content must meet the following criteria:

• Contain free resources suitable, in all or in part, for children 3-7 years

• Resources must be easy to download and use

If you wish to list, please send the following information about your free site to jeanc@candostreet.com:

• A brief description of your site
• A logo, if you have one
• Your URL address so that we may create an active link to your site

We look forward to having you visit the “Can Do” Mall where the resources are free and fun!