Michigan's day cares face a deeply troubling health crisis.
An MLive.com investigation has revealed that three-quarters of kids in licensed day cares attend a center where vaccination rates fall far below federal guidelines. Statewide, the average vaccination rate of children in licensed day care centers is 87 percent, well below the 95 percent recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What's more, there are no penalties for day care centers that fall below guidelines, whose centers have greater chances of harming the children in their care.
The day care data paint a daunting picture. Of the 159,000 Michigan children who attend a licensed day care with five or more children, 119,000 are in centers where fewer than 95 percent of their peers are fully vaccinated. That's a stunning three in every four children in a licensed Michigan day care.
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Equally troubling is the fact that more than 70 percent of our state's 3,629 licensed day cares with five or more children are below the CDC's guideline. One of the most damning facts uncovered in our investigation: Michigan does not require day care workers to be vaccinated.
Enough is enough. It is overwhelmingly accepted by scientific and medical professionals that vaccines prevent contagious, deadly diseases from gaining a foothold. The abysmal immunization rates in Michigan day cares and K-12 schools show that pseudoscience and ideology are prevailing over indisputable, scientific facts.
Drastic change is needed:
Failure to protect our youngest residents amounts to gross neglect on the part of our legislators. They are imperiling our children by failing to ensure healthy, safe environments for them. Change must come swiftly, or we risk the well-being of some the most vulnerable among us.
This is the opinion of the editorial board of MLive Media Group, the parent company of MLive.com. The board is made up of the company's executive leadership, content directors and editors who oversee the 10 local markets that make up MLive Media Group. See the full list of editorial board members.