“To many parents, the accompanying anxiety feels unreasonable: the need to take a different route, the thought of missing valuable precious time with their child. The reality, though, is that choice around vaccine safety and efficacy is more complex than a ‘medical crisis,’ and regardless of a vaccine’s approval by the FDA or recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many parents also want to make their own choice.”
Dr. Anna Coglianese , Vice President of Clinical Practice for the Dr. R. Coglianese & Associates and author of “ First Steps To,” at a Healthday meeting in San Francisco last week said while decisions to not vaccinate their children can be justified on a number of different levels, at some point the conversation has to turn to the merits of the vaccine. This means a more-informed conversation about why a parent refuses to vaccinate a child.
More information is available on Vaccine Choice, which the American Academy of Pediatrics created to help healthcare providers and parents navigate the right answers to confusing questions about vaccine issues. The Academy states that because immunization decisions are an individual choice, parents must be provided information to help them make decisions. It encourages healthcare providers to provide information that allay parents’ fears, questions and concerns about vaccines.
“In the wake of the growth of non-medical exemptions (NME) in California and similar concerns nationwide, pediatricians have been confronted with new ways to engage their families in an informed decision,” the Academy states. The Academy explains that even when parents make personal or parent-centered decisions, that does not mean that a medical issue cannot exist.