A father has appealed to his son's school to bar unvaccinated children from attending school in his desire to save his son from the potentially deadly virus that can get him sick. Rhett, the father's 6-year old boy, has been battling leukemia for the past four years. Contracting the measles virus could be fatal for him.
Carl Krawitt has witnessed his son combat leukemia as he had undergone many cycles of chemotherapy. He is still recovering from the treatments. Carl and his wife made sure that Rhett would be free from infectious diseases that might harm him since his immune system is still recovering. However, the sudden and vast bout of measles outbreak poses a new threat to the child.
Rhett cannot be vaccinated due to his immune system is still recovering and rebuilding. It may take months before he is healthy enough to receive the vaccine. Marin County California has one of the highest rates of personal belief exemptions, meaning there are lots of people who are opting out of having vaccinations. Around 6.45% of children has a personal belief exemption wherein their parents have the freedom not to let them have vaccinations against communicable diseases.
However, Carl is anxious about it and has aired his concern on the condition of his son. "It's very emotional for me. If you choose not to immunize your own child and your own child dies because they get measles, OK, that's your responsibility, that's your choice. But if your child gets sick and gets my child sick and my child dies, then ... your action has harmed my child."
He has started taking actions in order to protect his son. He worked with the school nurse to make sure everyone in his son's class is vaccinated. Also, they have sent an email to the district's superintendent wherein they requested that vaccination as a condition of attendance, with only exception being those who cannot medically be vaccinated.
The superintendent said that monitoring is on-going and they will take actions to make sure the students are safe and secured.
Today, there are no recorded cases in Maine yet.
Leukemia is a serious type of cancer that affects the body's immune system and if a child would contract a virus, such as measles, it can cause serious complications.
