Health
Vaccine-averse parents most common reason for not vaccinating children
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 16, 2005
Concern that vaccines might cause harm was the most common reason given by parents who choose not to have their children vaccinated for preventable diseases, according to an article in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
The number of parents of school-age children claiming nonmedical exemptions from vaccination requirements has been increasing for the last decade in a number of states. Children with exemptions tend to be geographically clustered, thus contributing to the possibility of disease outbreaks in those areas.
Responses to surveys sent by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore to the parents of 277 children with exemptions revealed that 69% said a reason for seeking an exemption was concern that the vaccines cause harm. Those parents were also significantly more likely to report low perceived vaccine safety and effectiveness and a low level of trust in the government.
The parents also were likely to report lack of confidence in medical, public health and government sources for vaccine information and to be more likely to report confidence in alternative medicine professionals.
Most children with exemptions had received some vaccine, with vaccination for varicella the one most often missed.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/05/16/hlbf0516.htm.
