While the vast majority of parents in the United States have their children inoculated against measles, a small but growing number are saying no to vaccines.

Those who refuse the immunization cite concerns about the vaccines causing illness, allergic reactions or neurological problems.

Government agencies and most doctors, however, say the risk is minimal, and is overshadowed by the risks of contracting the disease.

In Bucks County, the Woodlands Healing Research Center in Quakertown carries a lengthy vaccine informational piece, offering both benefits and caveats, on its website.

The piece states that scientific evidence shows that while vaccines prevent infectious disease, it does not support their safety.

Parental choice is the deciding factor, the website states.

Calls to the center were not returned.

Locally, Dr. Peter Baddick says the resurgence of the disease is a "historic development as our state has not seen this disease in generations. It is perhaps the most infectious viral disease on the planet."

Most people who contract measles recover without any lasting damage. But children under 5 and adults are more likely to have complications, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those complications can include hearing loss, developmental delays, and pneumonia, the most common cause of death from measles in young children.

Children are typically immunized against measles at 1 year, and again at 4 or 5. Two doses is all a person needs for immunity, says Dr. Tibisay Villalobos, of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a practicing pediatric infectious disease specialist in the Lehigh Valley.

But babies under 1 year, and some people with suppressed immune systems, cannot get vaccinated, and they are most at risk if they catch the disease.

Vaccine history

Many are blaming the growing number of unvaccinated people for the current rise in measles cases in the United States.

An outbreak at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., in December that spread to 102 people in 14 states alerted health officials to the problem.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logged 121 cases of measles in 17 states between Jan. 1 and Feb. 6, most stemming from the California outbreak.

Earlier this month, a U.S. House subcommittee chaired by Pennsylvania Congressman Tim Murphy, R-18, held hearings on whether children should be vaccinated.

At the hearing, Murphy, who holds a doctoral degree in child psychology, said mercury is not used in the vaccines. That was a concern because people thought it caused autism, thanks to a now discredited 1990 study by a British physician who has since lost his medical license.

The testimony included that of National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Director Dr. Anne Schuchat.

"Vaccines save lives and are the best way for parents to protect their children from vaccine-preventable diseases," she said.

Measles was declared eradicated in 2000 due to the introduction of the vaccine, which became widely available in 1963. That year, 500 of the 3 million or 4 million people who got measles died.

Since then, the incidence dropped by 98 percent. By 1983, a record low of 1,497 cases were reported.

But then, parents became either complacent or wary, and the numbers again grew. Between 1989 through 1991, there were a total of 55,622 cases, with 123 deaths.

In 1991, five unvaccinated children in Philadelphia died from the disease.

Health officials mounted a public education campaign, and the numbers again dropped, hitting a low of 37 in 2004.

New outbreaks

But after the now-debunked British study, and the pronouncements of celebrities who claimed vaccines cause autism, cases are again on the rise.

In Pennsylvania, there has been only one case, in Cumberland County. After it was confirmed, the state Department of Health set up a vaccination clinic and inoculated 300 people, containing an outbreak.

While all school-age children - public, private, charter, cyber or home-schooled - are required to be vaccinated in Pennsylvania, there are exemptions for religious, medical, and moral or philosophical grounds.

Medical exemptions must be verified by a doctor; religious, moral or philosophical exemptions must be explained in writing by parents or guardians.

Some parents in California are having "measles parties" to deliberately expose their unvaccinated children to the disease, according to news reports. If the children contract measles, they will become immune. The California Department of Public Health is discouraging parents from the practice.

Unvaccinated children may be removed from school during outbreaks, but it's up to the districts to make that call.

Eighty-seven percent of kindergarten students in Pennsylvania are vaccinated, a low rate. But the figure reaches about 97 percent by seventh grade. A rate of 95 percent must be achieved to prevent outbreaks.

Law would take away exemption

By CHRIS PARKER

cparker@tnonline.com

Pennsylvania allows parents to exempt their school-age children from the required vaccines for religious, medical or moral/philosphical reasons.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, is proposing legislation that would eliminate the moral/philosophical exemption. Leach, of Philadelphia, cited a low vaccination rate of kindergarten children in Pennsylvania.

The state's young children have a rate of about 85 percent, among the lowest in the nation. By the seventh grade, the rate jumps to one of the nation's highest, 97 percent.

"My bill will eliminate only the exemption for 'a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief.' Based on statistics compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the 2013-14 school year, 2,988 students received the religious exemption, while 3,394 received the philosophical exemption. Thus, my bill would reduce, by more than half, the number of children not vaccinated in Pennsylvania for nonmedical reasons," he said.

"Given the danger that a low vaccination rate poses to public health, it is imperative that we take reasonable steps to increase the vaccination rate."

Local senators also weighed in on the proposal.

"As with any legislative effort to address the health and welfare of Pennsylvania residents, the proposal regarding child immunizations must be driven by sound science and led by our medical community," said Sen. John Yudichak, D-14.

"Every child deserves appropriate access to life-saving immunizations and we should not allow political rhetoric or false choices to overshadow the work and research of trained medical professionals."

Here are the Pennsylvania Department of Health's numbers of exemptions (for all school-age children) for the 2013-2014 school year:

Statewide: 1,423 medical, 2,914 religious, 3,394 philosophical

Carbon County: Four medical, seven religious, 21 philosophical

Lehigh County: 39 medical, 61 religious, 62 philosophical

Monroe County: 17 medical, 43 religious, 53 philosophical

Northampton County: 24 medical, 51 religious, 74 philosophical

Schuylkill County: Nine medical, 18 religious, 26 philosophical

Required vaccinations

What vaccines do children get, and when? Here are the vaccinations recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hepatitis B: First dose at birth, second dose between 2 and 4 months, third dose between 6 and 18 months.

Rotavirus (RV): First dose at 2 months, second dose at 4 months.

Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP): Between 11 and 12 years old

Haemophilus influenzae type b5 (Hib): First dose at 2 months, second dose at 4 months, third and fourth doses between 1 year and 15 months.

Pneumococcal conjugate (PCV13): First dose at 1 month, second dose at 2 months and third dose at 3 months, fourth dose between 1 year and 15 months.

Polio: First dose at 2 months, second dose at 4 months, third dose between 6 and 18 months, fourth dose between 4-6 years.

Flu: Annually beginning at 6 months.

Measles, mumps, rubella (MMR): First dose at 1 year to 15 months, second dose between 4-6 years.

Varicella (VAR): First dose between 9-15 months, second dose between 4-6 years.

Hepatitis A: Two doses between 12 -23 months.

Human papillomavirus12 (HPV2 for girls; HPV4 for boys and girls): Three-dose series between 11-12 years.

Meningitis: First dose between 11-12 years and a booster at 16.

Compiled by Chris Parker