Location, Location, Location Applies to Vaccine Hesitancy

Spatiotemporal vaccine refusal trends based on location and neighbor behaviors
neighborhood kids soccer team
(Precision Vaccinations News)

Vaccine hesitancy is not a new phenomenon around the world.

Since vaccines were first introduced, there has been a subset of the population opposed to them for a variety of reasons.

But, much of the current debate in the USA surrounding vaccines is focused on whether parents should be compelled to vaccinate their children.

New research says vaccine non-medical exemptions (NME) may be based on where you live, and who are your neighbors.

Additionally, this study suggests that efforts to decrease future NMEs may be most effective if they target regions where NME use is already high, as well as adjoining regions.

This study published in BMJ Public Health found evidence of a contagious-like process operating over this time, as increases in the use of NME appeared to emanate from the initial high-use regions.

This study was led by Dr. Paul Delamater, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and a Faculty Fellow at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina,  who observed that regions with the highest use of NMEs early in the study period also had the largest increases in NME use over the study period.

The second study finding suggests that vaccine refusal is a self-reinforcing process.

This means, when more people refuse vaccination in a region, the more acceptable it becomes, said Dr. Delamater.

These findings are useful to better understand how vaccine refusal can progress from an uncommon behavior into one that is largely-accepted, and maybe even expected, in some communities.

Since there is no federal-level mechanism to compel vaccination, states are responsible for enacting and enforcing their own policies and regulations.

Currently, all states except Mississippi, West Virginia, and California provide vaccine-hesitant parents with an option to exempt their children from school-entry vaccine requirements for non-medical reasons.

Although the details and restrictiveness vary from state to state, non-medical exemptions can be obtained based on parents’ religious, personal, or philosophical beliefs.

California took the bold step of eliminating the non-medical exemption option in 2015.

Governor Brown signed SB 277 which states that personal and religious belief exemptions will not be allowed in California, effective July 1, 2016.  However, if a parent files a letter or affidavit stating beliefs opposed to immunization prior to Jan. 1, 2016 that exemption will apply until the next grade span.

But, other states have yet to follow California’s lead.

In Texas, schools responding to the 2016-2017 State report, 52,756 students from kindergarten through 12th-grade were reported as having conscientious exemptions on file.

This data represents a 17% "conscientious exemptions' increase in one school year.

Two Texas school districts in Travis County, Eanes (3.6%) and Lake Travis (3.2%), reported vaccination exemption rates almost quadrupled the rate in 2016.

With the use of non-medical exemptions continuing to rise in many states, these researchers say it is likely vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks will continue in communities with extensive NMEs.

Vaccines, like any medicine, can have side effects, says the CDC. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of vaccines to the FDA or CDC.

These researchers did not disclose any conflicts of interest.

 

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