This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

While some children were hoping for a snow day in April, others actually did get a day off. But not for the weather. Last Friday school was closed at Murray's American International School of Utah for whooping cough. The charter school had 30 students quarantined and hundreds of absences after an outbreak of whooping cough – or pertussis – spread through the school's population.

But whooping cough has been largely contained through vaccination. And if there is one thing we know, it is that vaccination works.

Utah requires that entering kindergartners receive five doses of the pertussis vaccine, or four by the age of 4, as well as a plethora of other vital vaccinations. But Utah law allows parents to claim exemptions from vaccination requirements for medical, religious or personal reasons.

Yet despite the life-saving protections vaccinations offer, likely one of the greatest medical advancements after the washing of hands, people still continue to exempt their children from these protections. Some parents merely fear bad reactions. Some believe vaccinations are dangerous, and lead to autism or other dangerous side effects. But these claims have been debunked. In fact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructs parents that there is no link between vaccines and autism, and the risk of the pertussis vaccine, specifically, "causing serious harm, or death, is extremely small."

Vaccinations protect more than just the individual vaccinated through what is commonly known as "herd immunity." Through this principle, when enough of a population is vaccinated, non-vaccinated members are also protected because the vaccination represses the disease's spread. Herd immunity protects vulnerable members of the population who cannot yet receive the vaccination, like infants, young children and the elderly.

The incident at Murray's American International School of Utah does raise an ongoing concern regarding quality control at charter schools. But this is not just a charter school problem.

In 2015 Utah placed 43rd in the nation for fully-immunized 2-year-olds. For the importance and value Utah places on families, especially children, 43rd place is not good enough. The Utah Legislature considered a bill last year requiring an education component for parents exempting their children from vaccination. It failed to pass, mostly due to the alleged burden placed on rural families. But when a school in the state's most populous county is closed due to a preventable disease, perhaps state legislators need to re-examine vaccination exemption requirements.