Ventosa and her husband, Dr. Jose Ventosa, an internal medicine physician, have declined to get vaccines for their five children ever since the youngest had seizures shortly after receiving a DPT shot about two years ago, when she was 2 months old. All the children are home schooled. The girl's physicians attributed the seizures to an undetected medical condition known as tuberous sclerosis, a neurological condition. Her parents think her condition and the vaccine probably both played a role. In Ohio, for example, school districts can exempt children for religious or medical reasons.
Few parents seek waivers.
Indeed, the vast majority of parents adhere to the recommended immunization schedule, said Dr. Blaise L. Congeni, director of infectious disease at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron. There's nothing that we do that is totally free of any risk in medicine. But we have to make informed, reasonable choices. In fact, more than 90 percent of Ohio's preschoolers are getting vaccinated against such diseases as polio, measles, mumps and rubella, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Medical experts credit high vaccination rates with the sharp decline in reported cases of these childhood illnesses.