HOUSTON (AP) – A new study has found that four Texas cities are among those in the country with the highest number of kindergartners not getting vaccinated for non-medical reasons.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the study published Tuesday in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal ranks Houston, Austin, Fort Worth and Plano among the 15 metropolitan “hot spots” of vaccine exemptions. Texas has more cities on the list than any other state.
Dr. Peter Hotez is a Houston vaccine scientist and one of the study’s authors. He says the findings should be a wake-up call for Texas and the 17 other states that allow non-medical exemptions for personal beliefs.
Hotez says the trend shows that anti-vaccine groups have been successful at lobbying efforts to convince parents not to vaccinate their children.
