New guidelines issued last week by the American Academy of Pediatrics prod pediatricians and lawmakers to get tougher with parents who exempt their children from required immunizations.
The guidance urges lawmakers to eliminate “nonmedical” factors that allow parents to exempt their children from immunizations. And for the first time, the association said pediatricians may consider terminating services to families who refuse vaccinations if other efforts fail to persuade parents to vaccinate their children.
Vaccine exemption became a nationwide issue last year after a measles outbreak began in California, where 3 percent of children lacked the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Pediatricians in several states have begun to turn away unvaccinated children, saying they want to protect their other patients.
