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Preventing Resistance Anti-vaccination movement puts CT docs in educator role \\ By Karen Ali C onnecticut's vaccination rates are among the highest in the country, but local doctors are still concerned about what they see as an increasing wariness and distrust by par- ents and patients of shots aimed at preventing various diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. Last school year, parents of 689 Connecticut kindergartners signed waivers to exempt their chil- dren from required vaccinations based on religious beliefs, according to government data. Those exemptions represented 1.7 percent of the kindergarten population. The number of exemp- tions has climbed steadily in recent years, up 46 percent since 2011-2012, even as the number of kin- dergarteners in the state has fallen. ere could be several reasons for the uptick. Some doctors suspect cost or lack of knowledge could be a deterrent to sticking to the recommended vaccine schedule. But they also think some parents of young children are putting too much stock in discredited or inaccurate information that has come out in recent years about some vaccines' ill effects. "It can be frustrating trying to explain the benefits of vaccines with a parent who is convinced that an article on the internet — or even Facebook — goes against years of excellent science and the best public health intentions," said Dr. Marc Ramirez, a pediatrician with Starling Physicians in New Britain. e potential consequences are serious. Reported cases of preventable contagious illnesses like measles and whooping cough, once thought to be virtually eradicated, have increased across the country in recent years. Ramirez sees that as a setback to the important goal of preventing disease in the broader population. "Great gains have been made in eliminating and reducing the spread of deadly diseases, yet some of these diseases are coming back due to vaccine Continued on next page Connecticut Children's Medical Center nurse Ashley Stephenson (left) talks with Cheyenne Mathiew and Kevin Burgos, parents of Emery Burgos, who was preparing to get a vaccination during a recent trip to her doctor. P H O T O \ \ C O N T R I B U T E D GREATER HARTFORD HEALTH • Summer 2017 13