Vaccine refusals worry US doctors: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) – More than a third of U.S. pediatricians
surveyed said they would tell families who refuse all
vaccinations for their children to look elsewhere for care,
according to a study published on Monday.

Of 302 pediatricians questioned, 256 said they had
encountered a parent who refused to let a child receive at
least one vaccination in the previous 12 months, and 162 — 39
percent of the group — who had a parent refuse all
vaccinations.

The refusals were most commonly based on safety concerns,
worries about children getting multiple vaccines at once,
philosophical reasons and religious beliefs, said the report
from Chicago’s Rush Medical College.

“In the case of parents refusing specific vaccines, 82 (28
percent of the doctors) said that they would ask the family to
seek care elsewhere; for refusal of all vaccines, 116 (39
percent) of pediatricians said they would refer the family” to
another doctor, said the report.

The reason physicians cite most often for wanting to drop
such patients were lack of shared goals and lack of trust,
added the study published in the October issue of the Archives
of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

The study said the rate of unvaccinated children in the
United States has risen significantly since 1995. While most
parents continue to believe that vaccination is important, a
large number express concern about safety, it said.

The World Health Organization said earlier this year that
vaccines prevent more than 2 million deaths per year globally,
mainly among children; but it said many Internet sites have
appeared offering “unbalanced, misleading and alarming vaccine
safety information” that is confusing both patients and health
workers.