More education = less vaccination

[myjo]

Interesting article here on declining vax rates and it's association with more parents becoming educated on the subject:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...cinations.aspx

[heathergirl67]

That's an interesting way of looking at it. These are all findings from the same study:

Forty-four percent of those who missed a vaccination did so because their child was sick at the time of the scheduled vaccination. And there were a lot of other non-safety reasons for delay, Rodewald says.

Rodewald says 20% of parents who delayed their child's vaccination did so because the vaccination appointment was inconvenient. Another 17% said they simply missed the appointment. Other non-safety issues included not having transportation or not being able to afford the cost of the vaccination.

And Rodewald also notes that kids were more likely to miss a vaccination in 2008 than in 2005 because four more multi-dose vaccinations were added to the schedule.

Parents' Vaccine Beliefs
When CDC researchers probed what parents thought about vaccines, they turned up some interesting data.

When asked if they believed that vaccines are necessary to protect children:

96% of parents who did not delay or refuse vaccination agreed.
95% of parents who delayed vaccination agreed.
88% of parents who refused at least one vaccination but did not delay getting others agreed.
70% of parents who refused at least one vaccination and delayed at least one other agreed

[tanyalynn]

The growing trend of homeschooling, which is increasing at a rate of 7-10 percent a year, is also a sign that more parents may be opposed to the "mandatory" vaccine laws and understand that vaccinations are not the heavily promoted miracle cure-all that will keep their children from getting sick.

Did he HAVE to include this? There's already a lack of knowledge of exemptions, all states but two at least provide for a religious exemption to vaccination and some have pick-and-choose philosophical exemptions.

And that's separate from my frustration that his statement implies that homeschoolers chose, in significant part, to homeschool because of vaccination laws and that we are doing so to keep our kids from becoming ill in that breeding ground of infection that is school (his implication, not my view).

When asked if they believed that vaccines are necessary to protect children:

96% of parents who did not delay or refuse vaccination agreed.
95% of parents who delayed vaccination agreed.
88% of parents who refused at least one vaccination but did not delay getting others agreed.
70% of parents who refused at least one vaccination and delayed at least one other agreed

You'd think this part would change the way CDC frames their arguments. CDC really pushes the all-or-nothing approach and it looks like they could gain credibility by discussing selective vaccination. And with the laws the way they are, some parents are probably pushed to non-vaccination when they would rather do some combo of selective and delayed.

[myjo]

ITA about the homeschooling, it does betray ignorance of why most people choose to homeschool. Vaccinations did not even play a part in my decision, although I choose not to vax.