Wisconsin has higher rate of children seeking non-medical exemptions from vaccinations

Wisconsin kindergartners entering school have a higher rate of getting non-medical exemptions for vaccinations than the national median, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nationally, a median of 2 percent of kindergarteners received a religious or philosophical exemption from vaccinations during 2017-18 school year. In Wisconsin, the rate is 5.2 percent.

The majority of kindergarteners are not completely unvaccinated, Department of Health Services spokesperson Elizabeth Goodsitt said in an email to Wisconsin Health News. However, she said that low vaccination rates are cause for concern, especially when concentrated in a particular school or community.

Malia Jones, a social epidemiologist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Applied Population Laboratory, said vaccination is vital to protect those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

“We need very high rates of vaccine coverage in the general population,” Jones wrote in an email. “Getting everyone covered is how we prevent an outbreak of childhood infectious disease such as measles, mumps, pertussis or rotavirus.”

Wisconsin had 164 kindergartners start school in 2017 without vaccinations because of medical exemptions.

At a national level, Jones said, many of the children with philosophical or religious exemptions on file come from more affluent, well-educated families whose parents have concerns about vaccines. A smaller group of children have exemptions because of religious beliefs, she said. State level data isn’t available.