Vaccines and parental knowledge
Borras, E., Dominguez, A., Fuentes, M., Batalla, J., Cardenosa, N., & Plasencia, A. (2009). Parental knowledge of paediatric vaccination. BMC Public Health, 9 (1) DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-154
This study in Spain was a retrospective cross-sectional survey in Catalonia. They called up the parents of 630 children to ask them about vaccine coverage and to assess their knowledge about vaccines.
It showed that higher vaccination rates were associated with maternal age >30 and better knowledge scores about the vaccination. This seems fairly reasonable but it doesn’t entirely tally with my practical experience. I used to have far more trouble with the educated mothers and have experienced some terrifyingly irrational consultations. At its peak it didn’t matter how much the facts about vaccination were emphasised mothers just couldn’t get past the media screaming the unfounded risks at them.
The highest percentage of unvaccinated children corresponded to the MMR vaccine (1.58%). Non vaccination with the MMR vaccination was observed in 57% of children aged 18 months in the United Kingdom. In Switzerland, 21.34% of children were not vaccinated against rubella in 1998, and 77.52% in Italy in 1997. In Edmonton (Canada), 7% of children had received no dose of the MMR vaccine in 2002. The proliferation of negative publicity about vaccines in the mass media, especially the Internet, questioning the benefits of vaccination and leading to increased belief in natural or alternative therapies may explain these higher proportions of unvaccinated children.
Can you imagine a situation in the UK where the lowest rate of MMR vaccination is 1.58%? Yes, the decimal point is in the right place. It is a quite staggering difference and Spain does not seem to have been gripped by the autism-MMR hoax. DeeTee has posted over at Lay Science on the current situation in Wales and the single vaccine vultures are hovering.
To recap: As of Tuesday, 207 cases of measles had been reported in Wales, with 26 children being admitted to hospital and several ending up in intensive care with life-threatening complications. There have fortunately been no deaths yet, but that is probably a testament to the good care these kids have had in ITU. I just hope none have had measles encephalitis or any other complication that will cause long-term damage.
Has the recent MMR catch up campaign made any difference? We continue to teeter on the brink of an epidemic and the NHS Immunisation Information site reports that:
The data suggests that nationally there has been about 3.5 percentage point increase in the number of children aged 5 – 18 years who have received two doses of MMR from end of September 2008 to the end of April 2009. Over the same period of time, a decrease of about 1.3 percentage points was seen in children aged 5-18 who had received no doses of MMR.
They recommend caution with the data as it does not represent absolute rates but it seems to represent a trend toward improved uptake.
How else can we help? Well, I would re-iterate Margaret McCartney’s point that I don’t know a single doctor who hasn’t vaccinated their kids. This paper suggests we need older and better educated mothers. I don’t think we can wait for the current crop to age so I guess we will all keep doing our bit to inform whenever and wherever possible.
I agree with you and can’t believe there is still an argument. I have often been accused of blaming everything on religion, but I somehow do here as well. Here in the United States younger people tend to view themselves as either religious or in many cases spiritual, which is a term that is so vague as to be generally useless. When belief in powerful personal gods is stressed, there tends to be a epidemic of ignorance. Studies, and evidence are ignored, in favor of a feeling. Even if this is not religious, it is similar. The lack of education, is actually a mis education. One that says that there is something subjective about facts. The scientific process is not understood enough to make it a a warning against unchecked fears.