Carl Krawitt from Marin, California has taken drastic action to protect his young son, Rhett Krawitt, who is a cancer survivor – ban unvaccinated children from attending his school. Krawitt took measure against the anti-vaxxers after the Disneyland measles outbreak that has now affected 88 people in California.
A father wants his son’s school to ban children who have not been vaccinated from attending in an effort to protect his son. Carl Krawitt is the father of Rhett Krawitt, a 6-year-old boy full of life who has been fighting leukemia since he was 18 months old.
Rhett Krawitt attends Reed Elementary in Marin, California. More than 6% of children in Marin have a personal belief exemption, (the statewide average is 2.50 percent), which makes it possible for parents to send their unvaccinated children to school.
While most healthy children can fight communicable diseases like measles, polio or whooping cough, it is not the case for Rhett Krawitt. At the moment Rhett cannot be vaccinated, because his immune system is still rebuilding.
So, his father has taken some measures, ask the school to ban children who are undervaccinated or unvaccinated. Carl Krawitt, who fears that his son can catch the measles, explained:
“It’s very emotional for me. If you choose not to immunise 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.”
Marin County health officer Matt Willis confirmed that if the measles outbreak hits the school, steps will be taken for children to stay home for at least 21 days. Willis said:
“Right now, there are no cases of measles anywhere in Marin and no suspected cases either. Still, “if the outbreak progresses and we start seeing more and more cases, then this is a step we might want to consider” — requiring unvaccinated children to stay home, even without confirmed cases at a specific school.”
The anti-vaxxers club is growing in California. Many parents do not vaccinate due to allergies, but most of them skip the process due to their fear of autism.
But that decision has lead to the return of many illnesses that were once believed to be eradicated in America. The Centers for Disease Control reports that there were 644 cases of measles in 2014, up from around 50 in 2012.
Should schools ban unvaccinated children?
