N.J. Kids Skipping Vaccines Jumps 400 Percent; Here's Where They're From

The number of New Jersey students who skip vaccines has jumped more than 400 percent in past decade, and the state has identified where they live.

The state Department of Health recently released a report that shows the number and percentage of children with religious exemptions from vaccines, by grade and county, in New Jersey — and the results are staggering.

That total number is a whopping 9,506 school kids - more than five times the number in 2006, which was 1,644, according to state data.

Religious exemption is the typical reason many people cite for not getting their kids vaccinated if they believe it's dangerous, state officials say.

The 2015-2016 report also shows a steady increase over the past few years, but a somewhat big jump this year.

In 2013-2014, the number of school kids who did not get immunized was 8,977. In 2014-2015, it was 9,115. This year, the number jumped by 391 children, a 4 percent increase.

The skyrocketing numbers have caught the attention of some lawmakers who want to do more to encourage people to get their children vaccinated.

Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr., a Democrat in Burlington and a physician who has chaired the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, noted that several parts of the country have endured measles outbreaks, probably because of declining vaccinations.

The disease is a very serious and dangerous condition, he said.

"Unvaccinated children not only create a risk to individual children, but they're also a risk to your neighbor's children as well," Conaway said in a video statement.

Conaway has proposed legislation that would force people who want to claim an exemption from vaccinations to state their religious objection in writing.

"We are in it together, and we do have a responsibility not only for ourselves but for our neighbors as well," he said.

Bergen County had among the biggest increases in unvaccinated school kids over the past year, jumping from 1,193 to 1,367 exemptions. The number in Monmouth County, which has the largest percentage of students who are not immunized, fell from 1,225 to 1,189.

Here are the counties and their numbers of exemptions, as well as the percentage of school students who have not been immunized:

Atlantic: 264, 1.8 percent
Bergen: 1,367, 2.5 percent
Burlington: 397, 1.6 percent
Camden: 343, 1.2 percent
Cape May: 115, 2.8 percent
Cumberland: 145, 1.5 percent
Essex: 770, 1.5 percent
Gloucester: 244, 1.6 percent
Hudson: 349, 0.9 percent
Hunterdon: 294, 4.8 percent
Mercer: 247, 1.1 percent
Middlesex: 545, 1.2 percent
Monmouth: 1,189, 3.5 percent
Morris: 783, 2.7 percent
Ocean: 715, 2.5 percent
Passaic: 520, 1.7 percent
Salem: 42, 1.3 percent
Somerset: 410, 2.2 percent
Sussex: 226, 3.4 percent
Union: 402, 1.2 percent
Warren: 139, 3.0 percent

Patch file photo