<p>I just noticed a post (on another site) by a soon-to-be freshman student that they have not been immunized due to religious reasons. The student is wondering what to do since the university requires the immunization records.</p>
<p>Is it possible to get a college waiver for immunizations? This is something I never thought about but due to the tight quarters in college dorms, etc. it does give me some concern.</p>
<p>I suppose… It’s considered a public health concern (at least at public universities) so it’d be pretty difficult to get an exception, but who knows? I’d want to see than challenged in the courts, it would be an interesting case XD</p>
<p>You could get a waiver at my public high school. It never occurred to me that it wouldn’t be possible at a public university, too. My university doesn’t even require immunizations in the first place.</p>
<p>Mine does, basic stuff most people get throughout childhood as well as a vaccine for meningitis. </p>
<p>As far as a concern about dorm sickness… I never once got sick the whole year. Neither did my roommate (and neither of us were germophobes…). I didn’t bother getting swine flu vaccines either. Some colds went around, but that happens everywhere. We had some swine flu (not an epidemic). Stomach viruses were on the floor below mine but it didn’t spread any farther. You don’t need to be worried unless your immune system is compromised, but then you wouldn’t be living in a dorm, would you?</p>
<p>I just sent in proof of my son’s immunizations, but on the form, there was a section to be filled out regarding no immunizations due to religious reasons. They would accept this as a reason to waive the immunizations and this is at a public California university.</p>
<p>My kids got religious exemptions for immunizations from their Colleges, but they were small privates.</p>
<p>By law, their required to.</p>
<p>Side note, mine required the meningacocol one. I never got the flu one, and ended up getting the flu. Bah.</p>
<p>I know that at my school people are granted waivers if they request one, but if there is an outbreak of some disease for which there is a vaccine, those without that vaccinations must vacate the dorms for the duration of the outbreak for the safety of themselves and others around them.</p>
<p>Which religion prohibits immunizations?</p>
<p>Technically, you don’t have to say which religion. It doesn’t matter.
However, I do believe that Jehovah Witnesses generally fit the bill.</p>
<p>Our state u’s require them. We had to send in a copy of immunization records.
We got a letter back fr. S2’s school saying that his Tetanus shot had expired and that he would have to get it and send in a record of it from the Dr.'s office or he would not be allowed to stay in the dorm at Orientation.</p>
<p>It seems the big three required immunizations are Meningitis, Tetanus, and a TB skin test (not an immunization, but you do have to get a shot for it). You could probably talk your way out of most of the other immunizations, and the newer ones for Hepatitis B and Human Papilloma virus (girls only) are not likely to be required.</p>
<p>There were two students who died from Meningitis here a few years ago and all the local schools started making sure everyone was immunized. Meningitis starts as a fever, gets high rapidly, and then quite often the patient dies before it’s even recognized or treated. It’s a contagious disease of close contact: dorms, camps, tenements, barracks, etc.</p>
<p>Colleges (public and private) have every right to require their students to have immunizations. I would assume it is up to the individual institution as to whether or not they want to grant waivers on this issue. It is a matter of public health in a situation where you have many students living in close quarters which can be a breeding ground for many contagious diseases.</p>
<p>In addition to meningitis which can be so quick to kill, there are many other “older” diseases still out there.</p>
<p>A few years ago (2006?), there was a large outbreak of mumps (around 100 cases) that centered around Wheaton College in Illinois. As this is a Christian school, the speculation was that many of the students may have not been completely vaccinated due to religious reasons. This disease spread to several of the other area colleges (Elmhurst College, North Central College, Benedictine University and perhaps others) as students from Wheaton also participate in programs open to an association of smaller Chicago area colleges. Not vaccinating students can have a real, serious consequence.</p>
<p>There has also been an increase in pertussis (whooping cough) on and off college campuses in recent years. Do we really want to send off an unvaccinated student who might get an easily prevented disease when the consequence could be a prolonged (in the case of pertussis) or often life altering (male sterility in the case of mumps) disease?</p>
<p>I think it is prudent to require vaccinations. I can’t imagine a student suing over this. If someone objects to vaccines, I am sure there are some religious based schools that might not require them.</p>
<p>I have known of two families that have lost a child due to lack of vaccination, although they were not in college at the time, and my sister, a pediatrician, has had a number of patients die or become permanently damaged due to their parents’ refusal to vaccinate despite her hours of teaching and even pleading with them…it’s really just a numbers game, and odds are pretty high that the child will be exposed to one or more of those diseases. For residential students, they often are required by law to be vaccinated…or they can just live off campus, so I don’t think there’s a legal issue there as no one is entitled to housing. Personally, I’ve never understood why some parents choose not to vaccinate - to me, it is the height of folly and I often wonder how they feel when their child dies of a preventable illness like meningitis. The relgious objections seems, to me, to be akin to testing God and I can’t really understand that either! Anyway, I hope that all college-aged kids with such parents are made aware of the serious danger from not vaccinating and make their OWN fact-based decision as to whether they want to put their life on the line over it.</p>
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<p>Actually, the 1st amendment of the US constitution says that the government can’t restrict people based on their religion. </p>
<p>Not allowing students to attend public universities because of a religious disagreement would violate the 1st amendment.</p>
<p>I happen to agree with you that immunizations are a good thing and everybody should have them. I think it’s bad practice for a religion to not allow immunizations. But, I support the US Constitution and respect the fact that it allows people to practice their religion. People shouldn’t have to go against their religion in order to attend a state-supported college that they are paying for through their taxes.</p>
<p>(At the same time, many people use religion as an excuse to not vaccinate and that is wrong. The power the 1st amendment gives us should not be abused.)</p>
<p>I agree that you should have the right to vaccinate (or not) your child. I do not agree that your unvaccinated child should be allowed to be in the dorm with my child. I pay taxes too.</p>
<p>We just found out that D’s school is requiring varicella (chicken pox) vaccine or a blood test to prove immunity. I swear she had chicken pox at 18 mos, but it didn’t show up on blood test so now she has to have 2 shots 30 days apart before school starts. We just barely made it - with the 2nd shot scheduled for the day before she leaves. I guess she could have waited to have it done at school health center, but that would be just one more stress for the first week of class.</p>
<p>As a person who contracted one of those diseases at a time when I couldn’t be vaccinated for medical reasons, I deeply resent non-vaccinators. It’s just a way of saying “you take the risk for me” because they are depending on herd immunity. Which is dangerous for all of us when you factor in the number of people who cannot be vaccinated.</p>
<p>The parent whose child dies of a “preventable”(?!) disease like meningitis probably feels the same way as a parent of a vaccinated child who dies of meningitis. Devastated at the loss of a child. There have been several cases of vaccinated kids dying of meningitis around here this year.</p>
<p>Many kids in outbreaks of mumps and pertussis were vaccinated. These vaccines do not give lifelong immunity, despite what parents are told.</p>
<p>My kids have had all the required vaccinations, except they all contracted chicken pox the old fashioned way. There are many more vaccinations given to babies now than 18 years ago. I’m not sure I would want to subject my babies to such an assault on their young immune systems.</p>
<p>According to Wiki, mumps vaccine is about 80% effective. My guess is thats a lot higher than for, say, seat belts.</p>
<p>and of course if the vaccine is NOT 100% effective, that makes herd immunity even MORE important.</p>