|
 Most doctors comply with the request, even though they believe the
delays put the children at risk for preventable diseases and make
the experience more painful, the researchers report in the journal
Pediatrics.
Only about 2 to 3 percent of parents actually refuse vaccines, said
study leader Dr. Allison Kempe. But, she added, "there is an
increasing number of parents asking to deviate from the schedule in
other ways.”
Kempe, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine and
Children’s Hospital Colorado, had expected that most doctors would
get such requests from parents, but not this often.
“I was surprised by over 20 percent of doctors saying 10 percent or
more of their families (had asked) to spread out vaccines,” she
said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends
several shots during the first years of life to protect against
diseases (PDF link: http://1.usa.gov/1EDPWBP). The schedule is
backed by the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American
Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which publishes Pediatrics.
The AAP says the vaccine schedule is designed to work best with
children’s immune systems while protecting them from diseases as
soon as possible.
The new report comes as the U.S. battles a large measles outbreak
that had infected 154 people from 17 states and Washington, D.C. as
of February 20, according to the CDC. The outbreak is tied to
Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
For the study, Kempe and colleagues, in collaboration with the CDC,
sent surveys to 815 pediatricians and family doctors across the U.S.
in 2012. They received 534 completed surveys.
Overall, 93 percent of doctors reported at least one parental
request to space out the immunizations of a child younger than two
years old. And 21 percent of those doctors said at least 10 percent
of families made the request.
The doctors said parents had a variety of reasons for deviating from
the recommended schedule, including concerns about complications and
a belief that their children won’t get a vaccine-preventable
disease.
[to top of second column] |
Most doctors responding to the survey felt it’s not in the child's
best interest to space out vaccines, but most comply with the
parents’ wishes at least sometimes.
The percentage of doctors who often or always agree to spread out
vaccines more than doubled from 13 percent in a similar 2009 survey
to 37 percent in the current report.
Doctors said they tried to educate parents on the importance of
following the recommended vaccine schedule, but few felt they had
any effective approaches.
“A lot of them feel what they’re doing isn’t making a difference,”
Kempe said, adding that organizations like the AAP have recommended
techniques for discussing vaccines.
“I am not convinced that we have the right methods to counter this,”
she said.
She said several techniques need to be combined, including education
during pregnancy, more responsible reporting by the media, limiting
the use of philosophical exemptions, and better collaboration
between the public and health department.
“It can’t all fall on the primary care doctors' backs,” Kempe said.
“It’s too big and too time consuming of an issue.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/uFc4g2
Pediatrics, online March 2, 2015.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
