What Effect Do Non-Medical Exemptions to School Immunization Laws Have on Public Health?

This project will explore the relationship between non-medical exemption laws and variability in those state laws and disease rates.

The project will employ mixed-effects hierarchical models at three levels (year, state, and region) of analysis for five vaccine-targeted diseases (measles, mumps, pertussis, varicella, and hepatitis B). The researchers will use a longitudinal research design to examine state-level data from 51 jurisdictions over 8 years (2001-2008).