Parents who refuse to vaccinate their infants: paediatricians' feelings and treatment intentions.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate paediatricians' attitudes and emotions towards parents who refuse to vaccinate their infants and to assess their reactions, suggestions and practices.
DESIGN: The study group consisted of 376 paediatricians in Israel, who completed the emailed research questionnaire anonymously.
RESULTS: Although the vast majority of paediatricians agreed that vaccination was in the baby's best interest (92.2%), only a small percentage (3.5%) felt that there should be some scientific justification behind a parent's refusal. The majority (70.7%) of those surveyed expressed negative feelings towards refusing parents. Despite this, more than a third (36.9%) agreed that parents have the right to decide (28.9% disagreed) and a third (36.8%) agreed that vaccinations should be officially enforced (35.8% disagreed). Only a very small percentage of the paediatricians (1.8%) said they would object to treating infants who had not been vaccinated.
CONCLUSION: Paediatricians face a conflict between two opposing values: the importance of immunization versus the parents' rights to decide what is best for their own child. Therefore, they are in favour of gentle persuasion or official enforcement. We believe that experts in modern communication could help paediatricians to convey the positive benefits of vaccination to parents. ©2013 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.