Four In Five Parents Believe Children At Daycares Should Be Vaccinated

Four out of five parents say they believe all children in a daycare should be required to be up to date on vaccines, according to a poll conducted by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

The poll also found that 40 percent of parents believe children who don’t have the required vaccines should be kept out of day care, and 75 percent of parents believe care providers should check vaccination statuses every year. Additionally, two out of three parents said they’d like to know which children are not up to date on their vaccines at any given day care.

“The take-home message from this poll is that, when choosing a daycare for their child, parents should feel comfortable asking about the vaccination policies,” C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital said in a statement.

Despite the aversion to children who haven’t had vaccinations, a surprisingly large number of parents disagree with having their own children vaccinated. Though most states require a number of vaccinations before children are allowed at public schools, nearly 40 percent of parents chose to delay or skip their children’s recommended vaccines last year, according to one study.

Those in the anti-vaxxer movement have argued that the cocktail of shots causes autism, though that claim has been discredited. In fact, upon review of the government immunization schedule, the Institute of Medicine found the vaccinations to be safe and effective. The resurgence of whooping cough, mumps and measles in the last few years has also pushed back on the group.

In New York, 20 cases of measles among children and adults were reported this year. In 2011, more than 20 cases of bumps were reported at the University of California, Berkeley campus. This year, California also suffered from its worst case of whooping cough epidemic in the last 70 years.

Authors of the study noted that the spread of accurate information has somewhat reversed the insurgence against vaccines.

Source: Think Progress / Photo Credit: Flickr