Pandemic

A small but growing group worries public-health officials:
parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids.

Thousands of Arizona schoolchildren skipped their recommended vaccines during the 2010-11 school year under a "personal beliefs" exemption allowed by state law, Arizona Department of Health Services records show. In kindergarten alone, more than 2,700 Arizona students, or 3.2 percent, skipped vaccines, more than double the exemption rate claimed by parents one decade ago.

These aren't children who lacked access to health care or had a medical reason for not immunizing. Their parents or guardians chose to keep them vaccine-free because of religious or personal beliefs such as fears that the vaccines may do more harm than good.