As Vaccination Rates Dip, Parents Walk A Tightrope Between Doubt And Risk

The recent re-emergence of measles in the United States following a 15-year period of occasional cases provides a compelling example of an unresolved societal tension in public health: that between the value of autonomous decision-making and the need for social responsibility. The outbreak---more than 700 cases since January 2014---reveals not only this tension, which also plagues other arenas of health care reform. It also reveals the tenacity of doubt about vaccine safety that has led to a tipping point in undermining herd immunity. (That is, within a community, high rates of immunization protect both individuals and the community as a whole, including those who are not immunized, by limiting the disease’s ability to spread; when too many people opt out, however, that overarching protection wanes.) Why aren’t certain communities of generally affluent and well-educated parents in the U.S. following medical advice, even after scientific reports have confirmed that there is not a causal link between vaccines and autism and other developmental disorders? Can the value of childhood vaccination as a critical public health measure outweigh the value of the right to parental choice? The answers to these questions are found in contemporary parent sensibilities about trust, doubt, and individual ethics. Doubt has become central to the idea of parental responsibility in the face of health care decisions. That doubt, which includes skepticism about medical expertise, heightened...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Featured Population Health Public Health autism risk awareness vaccines Source Type: blogs