BACKGROUND:
Although the US has achieved high rates of immunization among children, sustaining those accomplishments each year is an ongoing challenge. In part, this reflects the need to educate each year’s cohort of first time parents about the importance and value of immunization.

OBJECTIVE:
To determine parental attitudes about childhood immunization during 2003.

METHOD:
A total of 4,337 adults over the age of 18 years participated in a telephone survey of attitudes about immunization. Routine statistical procedures were used to evaluate the results.

RESULT:
A substantial minority (15%) of adults considered vaccines unnecessary to prevent certain diseases. Of that 15%, 72% did not think that immunization was important for children and 80% thought that vaccines for children were unsafe, compared to 36% and 58%, respectively, among those recognizing that vaccines can prevent certain diseases.
Reasons given by those having at least one child <19 years of age living at home for not considering vaccines to be necessary, included concerns about the safety of vaccine ingredients (27%), the adequacy of safety testing (25%), the number of immunizations given during the first two years of life (31%) and that children are given vaccines against diseases they are unlikely to get (25%). Such concerns were significantly (p<0.05) less common among those that considered vaccines necessary for disease prevention.
Those questioning the value of vaccines were less likely to follow the advice of their child’s doctor (22%), considered vaccines recommended by the doctor to be unsafe (66%) and did not appreciate the public health benefit of vaccines (44%). Both groups relied on quantitative data when evaluating the benefits and risks associated with vaccine use.

CONCLUSION:
These results suggest that the immunization community find new and effective ways of packaging and delivering science-based information about the safety, efficacy and public health value of vaccines.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1) Discuss attitudes about immunization held by adults
2) Describe key factors that distinguish vaccine hesitant adults from those appreciating the public health value of vaccines
3) Identify more effective approaches to public education about vaccine safety and effectiveness