Mother of 5 kids and WV doctor: Consider risks of Senate Bill 460

A child under 12 years old receives a vaccine Jan. 18, 2022 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. (Pedro Vilela | Getty Images)

Recently, I testified before the West Virginia House Committee on Health and Human Resources about Senate Bill 460 which would weaken our childhood immunization laws for child care and school entry.

West Virginia has long been a national champion in ensuring that our child care and school entry immunization laws remain strong. Naming all of the benefits of ensuring these policies remain in place would have pushed me over the 3-5 minutes I was allotted for my testimony. I would like to supplement my testimony to the West Virginia legislators and others who are following this bill with this editorial.

Our immunization policies help maintain our robust herd immunity to protect those who are vulnerable. When the argument is made that if one immunizes, they shouldn’t have anything to worry about if someone else doesn’t is faulty. 

My kids attend school in West Virginia. One of their classmates was diagnosed with congenital neutropenia. This disease makes her susceptible to bacterial illnesses. It is imperative that those around her are immunized so that she remains protected when attending school. She is one example of numerous immunocompromised children that attend private and public schools in West Virginia who need and deserve protection. Thank you to her mom for allowing me to share her story.

On a personal note, a relative in my family recently returned to school and obtained her nursing degree. She is now a nurse working in West Virginia. Despite receiving the immunization, she is unable to generate an immune response to the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. She is on the medical front lines caring for our community’s sickest, and our herd immunity is the strongest protection she has against measles, mumps, and rubella. Thank you to my relative for allowing me to share her story.

Similarly, our teachers who are caring for our kids and starting families of their own need protection when they are pregnant. Pregnant women who are not immune against rubella due to waning immunity or an inability to generate an immune response to immunization are vulnerable to passing rubella to their unborn infants. 

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 32,000 children were born with congenital rubella. About 33% of infants with congenital rubella die before their first birthday.

Since the start of 2025, three of five states that border West Virginia have reported measles cases  — Kentucky, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Last year, measles did find its way to West Virginia. Due to the efforts of our public health officials in disease containment and contact tracing as well as our current immunization policy for school and child care entry, our one case of measles remained just one case. 

Our modern day travel capabilities make everyone a target for diseases like measles appearing in our communities. If we let our guard down, it will make us susceptible to more cases and potential outbreaks. A measles outbreak is something that West Virginia cannot afford. And I mean this from a standpoint that we cannot afford the money and manpower it would take to contain and manage an outbreak. Most of all, we cannot afford to risk death and disability to those living in our great state.  

Finally, Texas is reeling from the death of a child from measles. This was a rude awakening by many that children in fact can die from measles. Now is not the time to let our guard down. What I love about West Virginia is how we can come together as a state when a neighbor or loved one experiences hardships. We do not want to come together and mourn the loss of a child from a terrible disease such as measles knowing that their death could have been prevented. 

I am asking our legislators to think about the ones already born and the ones yet to be born. I am asking our legislators to understand that schools and child care settings are high-risk settings, and that our day care workers, teachers, school staff and children across West Virginia need the best protection against terrible diseases that are easily transmissible but preventable through immunization. 

Children in West Virginia are precious and deserve a chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Senate Bill 460 puts their chance at risk. It is not a risk worth taking. I ask that our legislators reject changes to our current immunization requirements for child care and school entry.