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Orange County has the second-highest number of religious exemptions in the state, Butler said, after <br />Buncombe County. Roughly 4 percent of Buncombe’s school-age children are not immunized, state <br />reports show. <br />Unvaccinated students can be asked to stay home for up to 21 days if an infectious disease strikes a <br />school with low immunization rates, Butler said. The incubation period varies from one disease to <br />another. <br />“If we had a pertussis case in a school that is 99 percent vaccinated,” Butler said, “we may not need to <br />exclude the unimmunized students, because of the herd immunity in the population.” <br />“Herd immunity” means the school has enough vaccinated students that it also provides some <br />protection to unvaccinated students. <br />The state reported 780 cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, in 2014 – the highest number reported <br />since 1991. Twelve cases were reported in Orange County, state records show; Durham County had 20 <br />cases, and Wake County had 53. <br />Orange County reported 13 pertussis cases in 2012, and one confirmed case of the measles in a local <br />private school in 2013. A 14-year-old student at East Chapel Hill High School died from meningococcal <br />disease in 2014. <br />Public fears <br />Public health experts worry the fear that vaccinations may be linked to autism and other disorders, plus <br />the number of unvaccinated homeschool students, may be causing resurgence in some diseases that <br />have been eradicated for years in the United States. <br />Since 1988, more than 16,000 claims of adverse vaccination effects have been filed with the National <br />Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. More than $3 billion was paid in 4,277 of those claims, <br />government records show. <br />Orange County’s health department works with medical providers to address those fears, Butler said, <br />and encourages parents to consider science-based research that says the vaccines are safe. <br />Tammy Grubb: 919-829-8926, @TammyGrubb <br /> <br />Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill- <br />news/article42266670.html#storylink=cpy <br /> <br />