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PARK CITY — Utah state law requires all parents to have their children immunized to attend public schools. But an increasing number of Park City parents opting not to get their children immunized because of a rare exemption.
The philosophical exemption, as it is called, is one Park City resident Lauren Forsyth did not consider for her 8-month-old son.
"I think he's had a t least nine already, nine shots," she said. And he has more to come.
Forsyth says the relative melting pot which exists in Park City, along with different philosophical views on medicine, may lead to the heightened number of parents who refuse immunizations. She's just not one of those parents.
"I just feel science has come a long way, and there are a lot of diseases out there that can be avoided," she said.
The philosophical exemption is only available in 20 states, Utah included. But the number of parents using that exemption in Summit County has grown more than 2 percent each year over the past four years.
"Which is OK, except if a disease comes through and wipes out — or really causes a lot of disease and sickness (to those) who may not be able to tolerate it," said Carolyn Rose, nursing director at the Summit County Health Department.
Rose says while her department doesn't pressure parents into immunizations if they don't believe in them, it is a public safety issue.
"Mainly because the children that are not immunized are putting the rest of the population in the community at risk," she said.
And interesting to note: the Utah State Immunization Registry shows the state's exemption rate is 3.7 percent for kindergarten-age students. Meanwhile, Park city has a rate of 6.6 percent — nearly double the state average.
