A growing number of parents in London and Middlesex County won’t allow their kids to be vaccinated.

The ranks of vaccine objectors have grown by 58% since 2008, public health data reveal.

A few refuse because their child has already had the disease and developed an ­immunity. Others claim their child was ­previously ­vaccinated but their records were lost or destroyed.

But most who permanently exempt their kids say vaccines run afoul of their religious or personal beliefs.

Their growing number is the product of an age in which conspiracy theorists find ­fertile grounds to spread unchecked claims on the Internet, said Christopher Mackie, medical officer of health for London and ­Middlesex.

“Many people are committed (against ­vaccines) in a fanatical way. The Internet has been a perfect forum,” he said Tuesday.

Children who attend school are expected to be immunized against diphtheria, ­measles, mumps, polio, rubella, tetanus, ­meningococcal disease, whopping cough and chicken pox. The last three were new requirements for the 2014-15 school year.

But parents can opt their kids out, a choice Mackie says places other children at risk. That’s because even with a vaccine, a child has a small risk of getting the disease, a chance that increases when the child comes in contact with a youngster who wasn’t ­vaccinated.

Mackie’s concerns are grave enough that he asks the parents of his kids’ friends whether they ­vaccinate their children. If they don’t, he doesn’t allow his kids to visit.

“I make sure my kids play with families with ­vaccinated kids,” he said.

In April, former health minister Deb Matthews — now deputy premier — said she wouldn’t force children to be vaccinated but would instead continue to rely on education to persuade ­parents to get their kids ­vaccinated.

But those education efforts have not slowed the growth of objectors.

Her successor, Dr. Eric Hoskins, could not be reached for ­comment.

Schools also offer two vaccines that are completely optional — no signed exemption is needed: Hepatitis B and Human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines, which lessen the risks of getting some types of cancer.

Parents are on their own to get their children vaccinated against the flu.

jonathan.sher@sunmedia.ca

Twitter.com/JSHERatLFPress

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BELIEFS DRIVE REFUSAL

A growing number of parents permanently exempt their kids from vaccines otherwise required to attend school, mostly on religious or personal beliefs. Here are the numbers of new, permanent exemptions for London and Middlesex County:

2008- 209

2009- 239

2010- 233

2011- 291

2012- 290

2013- 331