By M. Scott Carter

Transcript Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — The rule in Oklahoma is simple: Your kid has to be immunized before they can attend school.

In fact, the law applies to all students — whether they attend public, private or parochial schools — and states that “no minor child shall be admitted to any public, private, or parochial school operating in this state” unless the child’s family can prove the child “has received, or is in the process of receiving, immunizations” for at least eight different diseases.

Those diseases include: diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, haemophilus influenzae type B (HIB), measles (rubeola), rubella, poliomyelitis, varicella, and hepatitis A or is likely to be immune as a result of the disease.

Other options

But there is an out.

Under the same law, parents can choose not have their child immunized — that is, request an exemption — simply by filing a written document.

According to the law, “any minor child, through the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child” may submit to the “health authority charged with the enforcement of the immunization laws...a certificate requesting an exemption from the law.”

That request, the law states, can be based on an objection by the parent, or be a statement from a licensed physician stating the “physical condition of the child is such that immunization would endanger the life or health of the child.”

And it’s that out that concerns some public health officials.

“It is a concern when we have people that choose to not immunize their children,” says Cleveland County Health Department Administrator Shari Kinney. “I think some people are counting on ‘herd immunity’ to protect their children.

And though Kinney acknowledges that lack of immunizations isn’t a major problem in Cleveland County, it’s the rise in communicable diseases which is becoming an issue for public health officials.