|
 The American Academy of Pediatrics found in a 2006 survey of its
members that about three quarters had encountered parents who
refused to have their children vaccinated. That proportion grew to
nearly 90 percent of doctors in 2013.
Parents' attitudes toward vaccines are changing over time, said Dr.
Kathryn Edwards, lead author of an AAP statement published Monday in
Pediatrics.
Vaccines are often a victim of their own success since they - as
intended - prevent diseases from sickening people, Edwards told
Reuters Health.
Roughly three quarters of doctors reported that parents delay
vaccines due to concerns about discomfort and almost the same
proportion say parents delay vaccines over fears about burdening the
immune system.
"Parental concerns must be addressed, and concerns will vary among
parents," the AAP says in its statement.
Some parents worry that the vaccine against the human papillomavirus
(HPV) is unsafe and increases sexual activity, the statement says.
"Reassuring parents that the vaccine is safe and that there is no
evidence that the HPV vaccine increases sexual activity may dispel
their concerns," it says.
About 94 percent of pediatricians surveyed in 2013 said they had
tried to educate parents who refuse vaccines. About a third said
education changed parents' minds.
"I think parents who have concerns about vaccines should continue to
discuss them with their pediatricians," said Dr. Catherine
Hough-Telford, who led the survey of the AAP members.
"Parents need to remember both they and the pediatrician want the
best for the children and that continuing to discuss vaccines is
important to address parental concerns," said Hough-Telford, who is
also affiliated with the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
The proportion of pediatricians who dismissed from their practice
parents who refuse to vaccinate rose from about 6 percent in 2006 to
about 12 percent in 2013.
[to top of second column] |
Pediatricians who turn away parents who refuse vaccinations need to
make sure the children can still receive care and won't be turned
away in illness, said Edwards, who is a professor of pediatrics at
Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
In a separate statement, the AAP says routine childhood vaccinations
are integral to the public health infrastructure in the U.S. Most
states allow children to be exempt from school-required
immunizations; while the AAP supports medical exemptions, it views
non-medical exemptions as inappropriate for individual health,
public health and ethical reasons.
Edwards said required immunizations are important, because
vaccinating the vast majority of children also protects those who
for some reason are not protected by the shots.
"As the measles outbreak showed in California, when you have large
numbers of unvaccinated children, they also put those who are
vaccinated at risk," she said.
Even vaccinated are at greater risk for the disease if they live
among unvaccinated children, "because the vaccines are not 100
percent effective," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2bLO4iT, http://bit.ly/2bLNMsx and http://bit.ly/2bLON3G
Pediatrics, online August 29, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
