Doctors often delay vaccinations because of parents
In order to protect children from life- and health-threatening infectious diseases, timely and regular vaccination is recommended in the early stage of their life.
But the results of a new study show that parents are increasingly putting pressure on doctors to postpone vaccination for a later stage or to completely refuse to administer mandatory vaccines. It is disturbing that medical professionals are increasingly succumbing to this pressure.
A group of scientists led by Dr. Alison Kempe, professor of pediatrics from the United States, published their results in the journal Pediatrics.
There are currently 14 vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for all children from birth to age 6.
It is recommended that vaccines be administered according to a specially developed immunization program, in which a certain combination of vaccines is prescribed for each age – this is necessary for maximum effective protection of children.
For example, it is recommended to administer the MMR vaccine / against measles, mumps and rubella / to children in 2 doses – the first at the age of 12-15 months, and the second at 4-6 years.
In Bulgaria, for this purpose, an immunization calendar has been developed and applied for many years, in which it is written which mandatory vaccines should be given to children at which age.
A new immunization calendar came into force in our country on 01.01.2015 and the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella is administered for the first time at 13 months, that is, the first dose, and the second immunization is given at the age of 12. The PRIORIX vaccine is used.
In their new study, Professor Kemple and his colleagues found that a growing number of parents are asking pediatricians to delay vaccinating their children, thereby putting their own offspring at increased risk of contracting infections that can be prevented.
As part of their study, the authors sent an email survey to 815 pediatricians and family physicians between June and October 2012.
The survey included questions about how often parents of children under the age of 2 ask doctors to delay the immunization that is recommended at that age and how medical professionals usually respond to these questions.
Of the 534 /66%/ pediatricians and family physicians who completed this survey, 93% reported that they received such requests from parents at least occasionally, and 21% responded that they received such requests from about 10% of the parents.
Parents’ desire to delay one or another vaccine, according to the current study, is related to fear of short-term and long-term complications of vaccination, for example – from autism, and also the assumption that their child is unlikely to get sick with the disease against which the vaccine protects.
However, 87% of respondents recognized that postponing immunizations was a risk factor for contracting a manageable infection, 84% of them reported that they “often/always” or “sometimes” agreed to change the vaccination schedule , to satisfy the wishes of the parents.
About 87% of the respondents believe that delaying the child’s vaccinations will allow them to build a relationship of trust with the parents. But 80% answered that if the doctor refuses to make adjustments to the schedule in order to postpone the immunizations – parents in most cases stop insisting on postponement.
