The recent measles outbreak has shaken the minds of a public that thought the mostly-childhood malady had all but disappeared from the American landscape.

Gone were the days when a mother with a sick child would expose measles, mumps and chicken pox to other siblings in hopes of getting it out of the way and providing a life-long immunity for the family. Even neighbors would go out of their way to expose their children when someone else in the neighborhood became sick.

When immunization for these childhood diseases was introduced, the public flocked to the shots hoping to eliminate the itchy, scratchy, fever sicknesses that, after all, did take a number of lives in its path of contagion.

When Jonas Salk introduced the polio vaccination in 1957, America thought it had all but eliminated major childhood diseases.
Generations passed and, years ago, the medical community announced that measles had been eliminated in the U.S. and was gaining the immune status throughout the world.

The measles shots are not 100% effective, but with the vast majority of the population immunized, the risks of contracting any of the childhood diseases was low.

Then came the backlash. A study, since rebuked, announced a clear connection between immunizations and autism. Leery parents began questioning the science and logic of having children immunized.

Religious objections joined the chorus and soon the medical community was taking stock of the dangers of a certain portion of the population growing up in a non-immunized setting.

A recent outbreak of measles, traced back to crowds at the Disneyland Amusement Park in California, raised the caution flag. The vast majority of those contracting measles were found never to have been immunized. Soon, an outbreak spread to almost every state. In New York, a college student who had never been immunized, became the first case in New York. He had exposed thousands in his travels along new York City train routes.

Measles, more contagious than even the recent Ebola scare, had taken a foothold in American awareness. Questions swirled, why wouldn’t a parent want to protect a child from a very controllable diseases?

State by state regulations vary. In New York, school age children are required to have full immunizations before attending their first classes, except for religious, or special medical exemptions.

According to a School-Immunization Survey for the 2013-14 school year from the New York State Department of Health, most school district in Wayne County reported a 98-99% rate of immunized student population.

School officials take their guidance from the “School Law 35th Edition”, published by New York State School Boards Association copyright 2014. The key phrase they are directed to use when reviewing a parents request for a religious exemption is…. “whether a parent’s religious beliefs are genuine and sincerely held.”

“I do not understand why parents place their children at risk by refusing to have them immunized,” stated Gananda Superintendent Shawn Van Scoy.