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Many parents are opting out of state-required immunizations, but that could potentially lead to the spread of more diseases, local health care providers say.

Those opting out must meet stricter guidelines since a new state law took effect March 1.

The new law, passed last year in SB 132, means that parents can no longer just sign for a non-medical exemption to state vaccination requirements. Now, parents have to meet with their provider and learn the risks and benefits of not vaccinating. Or, they would need to take an online module before they can get the exemption, said Heather Kaisner, immunizations coordinator for Deschutes County.

“The reason we have this scheduling law is to protect kids and our community from communicable diseases,” Kaisner said.

If a child gets behind on shots, parents have to file for an exemption for admission into school, Kaisner said. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets out a catch-up schedule for children who have not followed the recommended schedule, that is not a course recommended by clinicians, Kaisner said.

“We do not recommend delaying vaccines or spacing them out because it leaves babies susceptible to disease,” she said.

For a child whose vaccinations are overdue or missing, the CDC recommends getting caught up as soon as possible.

If a child does not complete a series of vaccinations on time, he or she would only need to take the remainder of the vaccinations in the series, according to the CDC. There is no need to start over.

Among the state-required vaccines are DTaP, Polio, Varicella (for chickenpox), Measles/Mumps/Rubella, Hepatitis B and A, and Hib (for the prevention of invasive disease caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b bacteria).

While school law is not as stringent as what is recommended by clinicians, Kaisner said some vaccinations are highly recommended by clinicians, including PCV13, or Pneumococcal conjugate, RV Rotavirus, HPV/Human papillomavirus for adolescents and MCV4/Meningococcal conjugate, which prevents meningitis, she said.

Kaisner cited a recent teen death in Portland from meningitis as well as five cases in Prineville that caused one death as evidence for the need of the MCV4 vaccine.

“MCV4 is not required, but is definitely recommended,” she said.

Six reported cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, this year in Deschutes County also served as a reminder that while vaccines have severely limited infectious diseases, many are still around, said Dr. John Chunn, local pediatrician and Central Oregon consultant for infectious diseases.

“Some parents are not particularly worried because you don’t see them anymore,” he said. “We should give a pat on the back for vaccines.”

The new legislation shifts responsibility back on parents for opting out, Chunn said. In the past many parents who had opted out later blamed providers for not warning of the consequences of not getting vaccinated.

“Now, they can watch the video,” he said.

Chunn recommends parents seek out an established health care provider who utilizes federal guidelines set out by the CDC. The CDC uses guidelines established by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is a division of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Those guidelines outline the vaccinations that children and teens need from birth through 18 years of age.

They include all of the state requirements, including four doses of DTaP, the vaccine that protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, spread over the first 18 months of a child’s life. Whooping cough cases have increased nationally in children, teens and adults over the last few years. Some infants have died who are too young to be fully protected by the vaccination.

Also, keep good records, Chunn said.

“I have my immunization records in my wallet and I’m an old man,” Chunn said.

For more information about both required and recommended vaccination schedules, visit: www.deschutes.org/immunizations and http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Recommended-Immunization-Schedules.aspx.