Parents Still Worried About Vaccine Safety

Although most get their children inoculated, concerns persist, study found

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

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MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Although most American parents vaccinate their children, many are concerned about the safety of vaccines and some choose not to have their children protected from potentially deadly diseases, a new study found.

Researchers at the University of Michigan found that while 90 percent of parents say vaccines are a good way to protect their kids, and 88 percent follow their doctor's vaccination recommendations, 54 percent are worried about serious side effects.

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"Parents' hesitation about vaccines has, in some cases, led them to postpone vaccinations for their children," said lead researcher Dr. Gary L. Freed, director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan Health System. "The study found that 12 percent of parents have refused at least one vaccine that their children's doctor recommended."

"When parents refuse vaccines, they place their child at risk for potentially life-threatening vaccine-preventable diseases," Freed added.

The study findings were published in the March 1 online edition of Pediatrics.

For the study, Freed's team collected information from 1,552 parents on their attitudes about vaccines. The survey was part of the CS Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

It found that almost 12 percent of parents have refused to have a child vaccinated with at least one vaccine recommended by their doctor. The vaccines most often shunned were newer ones, including those for varicella (chickenpox), which 32 percent refused, and meningococcal conjugate, which prevents diseases caused by meningococcal bacteria and was declined by 32 percent of parents. Meningococcal bacteria can infect the blood, spinal cord and brain and can be fatal.

In addition, almost 57 percent of parents rejected the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine, which is typically given to females before they become sexually active to help protect them from cervical cancer.

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