New way for MDs to respond to vaccine fear

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Two Saint Louis University pediatricians said they are leading an effort to change the way doctors respond to parents' fears of vaccines.

Dr. Ken Haller, an associate professor of pediatrics, and Dr. Anthony Scalzo, a professor of toxicology and pediatrics, said they examined the science around vaccinations, as well as the many messages parents get from the media, anti-vaccine advocates and even from doctors, that can lead parents to be wary of immunizations for their children.

Haller said physicians might not have always been the best advocates for vaccine safety. Too often they have dismissed parents' fears and accused them of not caring enough to do the right thing for their child, he said.

Until physicians do a better job of recognizing it is normal and even healthy for parents to have fears about their child, he said, physicians will not be seen as trustworthy and parents will continue to put their faith in those who oppose vaccines.

"We want to encourage pediatricians to go beyond the science around vaccines -- which is unequivocally on our side -- and express our own fears about the clear and present danger that these diseases present to babies and young children," Haller said in a statement. "Parents and physicians want the same thing -- to keep children safe and healthy. But we can only do that if our fears are based in reality."

The findings were published in the January/February issue of Missouri Medicine, the Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association.