Measles and Vaccines in Illinois

Should you vaccinate your children for measles?

Both Indiana and Illinois grant and exemption for the requirement to vaccinate due to medical or religious reasons.  Otherwise, you are required to get your children vaccinated.

Fifteen years ago, the federal Center for Disease Control declared measles eradicated in the United States.  We know now that is not true.

 ILLINOIS

 

As you have probably heard, we have an outbreak of measles in Illinois.  In Chicago, only 88.8% of adolescents have received the vaccine.  In the state as a whole, the vaccination rate is 93.5%

 

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has issued guidelines to help school administrators determine if a request for an immunization exemption should be allowed and whether medical exemption should be referred to the Illinois Depart of Public Health (IDPH).  http://www.isbe.net/research/pdfs/Immunization_gdlines_med_rel.pdf

 

Section 665.510  Objection of Parent or Legal Guardian

 

Parents or legal guardians who object to health, dental or eye examinations or any part thereof, or to immunizations, or to vision and hearing screening tests, on religious grounds shall not be required to submit their children or wards to the examinations or immunizations to which they so object if such parents or legal guardians present to the appropriate local school authority a signed statement of objection, detailing the grounds for the objection. (Section 27-8.1(8) of the School Code)  The objection must set forth the specific religious belief that conflicts with the examination, immunization or other medical intervention. The religious objection may be personal and need not be directed by the tenets of an established religious organization.  General philosophical or moral reluctance to allow physical examinations, eye examinations, immunizations, vision and hearing screening, or dental examinations will not provide a sufficient basis for an exception to statutory requirements.  The local school authority is responsible for determining whether the written statement constitutes a valid religious objection.  The local school authority shall inform the parent or legal guardian of measles outbreak control exclusion procedures in accordance with the Department's rules, Control of Communicable Diseases Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code 690) at the time the objection is presented.

 

Questions regarding religious objections to vaccinations in Illinois should be directed to ISBE Specialized Instruction, Nutrition and Wellness Division, School Health, at 312-814-5560.

 

Questions regarding medical exemptions for vaccinations in Illinois should be directed to the IDPH at 217-785-1455.

For more information on immunizations from the Illinois Department of Public Health:  http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/shots.htm