Germany’s upper house on Tuesday rejected proposed law changes designed to keep unvaccinated people away from children in daycare centers in an effort to halt an epidemic of measles, which claimed the lives of 48 German children in the first four months of this year. But the legal move also put Germany on a collision course with the European Union.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition agreed to move quickly in response to a wave of sudden, mostly non-public-sector cases of measles, which have been exacerbated by a drop in vaccination rates among the country’s citizens. The outbreak left health officials shocked, as the percentage of Germany’s 1,800-plus school-age children who were immunized against measles fell more than 3 percent in the last year. Health officials believed that was partly due to an increasing number of people, especially children, who were not sure whether or not they were properly immunized against infectious diseases.
But another group, including an increasing number of people in the daycare system, which are not taking precautions to avoid possible health risks, are also fueling concerns. The bottom line is that licensed daycare centers must follow strict rules for removing unvaccinated children from unvaccinated children. Because of the threat of immunization outbreaks, especially during the summer, any town or city that allows unvaccinated children to participate in daycare is taking an enormous risk.
Last year, unvaccinated children may have contributed to at least 1,300 cases of measles and 33 deaths, according to the German Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The balance between state and federal powers is a touchy issue. The countries’ unemployment rates are also the envy of Europe — unemployment in Germany is a mere 5.2 percent, while in Italy, it is around 13 percent. But ministers in the German government have nonetheless placed stricter controls on unvaccinated children who attend daycare. Any daycare center located in the country’s eight most populated states — mostly in major cities such as Hamburg and Berlin — must turn away unvaccinated children before the start of the day. The city-state of Hamburg, which has 1,500 licensed daycare centers, has not had any cases of measles so far this year.
In its ruling on Tuesday, Germany’s parliamentary committee for the interior decided that it would not vote on a bill in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, because of a lack of sufficient evidence that the measure would have the desired effects. Legislators also found no scientific consensus that daily monitoring for cases of measles or a rush to prosecute unvaccinated people would have a real impact.
Read the full story at The Guardian.
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