Survey Finds One-Third of Parents Will Avoid Influenza Vaccine for Their Children

During the 2017-2018 influenza season, at least 185 children were killed, a death toll since the Centers for Disease Control began screening them in 2004. About 80% of the deceased children had not yet died received the influenza vaccine.

But in a new national survey conducted by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Michigan, one in three parents say they will avoid getting the flu shot for their child this season.

The hospital asked 1,977 parents if they were planning to vaccinate their child and what their doctor had told them about it.

"Two-thirds of parents said their child would be vaccinated against the flu this year, while 34 percent said it was unlikely their child would do it. Most parents reported that their child's health care provider strongly (51%) or predominantly (26%) recommended influenza vaccine; 21% do not remember that the provider has made a recommendation, while 2% say he recommends not getting a flu shot, "says the hospital report on the survey.

Physicians generally recommend influenza vaccine for all people over 6 months of age, except for those with health problems or who may be allergic to the vaccine. The CDC said a record 155.3 million doses of vaccine had been distributed during the previous flu season. But in general, over the years, the CDC has reported that the rate of influenza vaccination has stagnated or fallen in most states.

So, why do people choose not to participate this year? One of the reasons could be an "echo chamber" that surrounds different people with completely different points of view, say the researchers.

"Parents who have decided to be vaccinated against their child's virus have reported hearing or seeing information about a vaccine that is largely favorable to the flu shot. In fact, these parents reported four times more sources of information that prompted them to want to vaccinate their child. . The opposite was true for parents who decided that their child would not be vaccinated against the flu: they reported seven times more sources of information that had interviewed them or did not want to vaccinate their child, "says The report.

This seems to have a measurable effect. For example, 87% of people who reported making health decisions based on what their doctor had told them told them they would be vaccinated. This number dropped to 56% for those who said they mainly made decisions "based on what they read or heard".

The researchers said parents could have a "selective hearing" when they were reviewing information about the influenza vaccine and paying attention to elements that already underpinned their beliefs.

"For me, the most important thing to remember is that there is a group of parents who seem to have gaps in expert advice on whether children should be vaccinated against the flu, especially if their child needs to be vaccinated against the flu, "said Sarah Clark, co-teacher. returning officer, CNN reported

She explained that the main reasons why parents chose not to give the vaccine to their children were concerns about side effects, that they thought it was not working or that their child was healthy enough to do not need the vaccine, according to the network.

Researchers say the results are a lesson for doctors: many parents do not rely solely on them for medical advice, and accurate shooting information must be disseminated by other means in "language that parents can understand.

But what parents say they will do and what they end up doing is not always the same: about half of the parents said in a survey conducted in 2016 by CS Mott Children's Hospital that they had vaccinated their child.