Senate endorses Riddle's immunization notices bill

The Missouri Senate on Monday gave first-round approval to Sen. Jeanie Riddle's bill requiring child care centers to notify parents if there are students who haven't gotten their immunizations against common childhood diseases - if the parents request that information.

"No names, no descriptions, nothing more than informing the parents," Riddle, R-Mokane, told the Senate Monday afternoon.

"It is only right and fair that parents be made aware that their young children - who are not old enough be vaccinated - could be exposed to another child who has not been vaccinated, from a potentially life-threatening disease."

State law already says that "no child shall be permitted to enroll in or attend any public, private or parochial day care center, preschool or nursery school caring for 10 or more children unless (the) child has been adequately immunized against vaccine-preventable child illnesses as specified by the department of Health and Senior Services."

Riddle reminded her colleagues: "As most know, children under the age of one are too young to be vaccinated for diseases such as measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox."

But after their first birthday, she said, state law allows parents to "choose not to have their child vaccinated. When a non-vaccinated child is brought to a day care, by law, they have to go to the county health department and get a waiver and (then) bring that waiver to day care.

"The problem is that, while day cares are required to have people who are not immunized get waivers, they are not required to tell parents who have children under the age of one that there are children in the day cares who are not immunized."

So, her bill would require that notification - only if parents asked for it.

The Senate needs to give its final approval to the bill before it can go to the House.

Even though the Legislature must end its session May 15 - less than three weeks away - Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said Monday: "There's a chance that a few Senate bills still have a chance (to be passed) on the House side."