When the answer to vaccines is “No”
This comprehensive review provides point-by-point, data-supported responses to 13 common vaccine misconceptions and concerns your patients may have.
PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS
› Use a presumptive approach when discussing vaccines with patients/parents. A
› Offer vaccines at every opportunity; provider recommendation is the most important factor in getting patients to vaccinate. A
› Focus on the cancer prevention aspect of the human papillomavirus vaccine to improve rates of vaccine acceptance. A
Strength of recommendation (SOR)
A Good-quality patient-oriented evidence
B Inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence
C Consensus, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence, case series
From The Journal of Family Practice | 2018;67(6):348-351,359-364.
10. Isn’t vaccination a personal choice? How does my health/illness impact the community?
Patients may not realize that most viruses are contagious from 1 to 2 days before symptoms appear, which means we can spread an illness before we even know we have it. Protecting oneself also protects those around us.
Economic concerns. There’s also the economic impact of these illnesses to consider. This includes the personal cost of being out of school or work for an extended period and the cost of a patient’s care, which can become astronomical if hospitalization is required and which can become the country’s problem if a person lacks sufficient health insurance coverage.
A study looking at the cost of 4 major adult vaccine-preventable illnesses (influenza, pneumococcal disease, shingles, and whooping cough) in the United States in 2013 estimated the annual cost for these illnesses in adults ≥50 years to be $26.5 billion.28 And that doesn’t include the cost of childhood vaccine-preventable diseases.
Countering 3 concerns about childhood vaccinations
1. I can’t afford vaccines for my child.
The Vaccines for Children program is a federally-funded program that covers the cost of all vaccines for children younger than 19 years of age who are Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, Alaskan Native, uninsured, or underinsured.29 Although there may be a small administration fee charged by the provider’s office, the vaccine is free.
2. Don’t all of the vaccines recommended for children overwhelm their immune systems?
Children are exposed to so many more proteins on a daily basis (by crawling around on the floor, putting their hands in their mouths, attending school or day care, etc) than they are ever exposed to in a series of vaccines.30 Exposure to these proteins in their environment and to those in vaccines only serves to boost their immunity and keep them healthier in the long run.
And thanks to advances in vaccine production, the immunologic load in vaccines is far less than it used to be. The 14 vaccines given today contain <200 bacterial and viral proteins or polysaccharides, compared with the >3000 of these immunologic components in the 7 vaccines administered in 1980.31
Continue to: Influenza vaccine: Patient-friendly talking points
