The Disneyland measles outbreak has not only added fuel to the already heated anti-vaccination debate, it's accelerated the trend of pediatricians who refuse to treat patients whose parents won't vaccinate, according to an article from the StarTribune.
"Parents who choose not to give measles shots, they're not just putting their kids at risk, but they're also putting other kids at risk--especially kids in my waiting room," Charles Goodman, M.D., a Los Angeles pediatrician who recently notified parents of his practice's strict policy, told the newspaper.
Nonetheless, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that physicians dismiss anti-vaccine families from their practices only if the patient-doctor relationship becomes totally unworkable, the article noted.
Such a fate is in many cases avoidable, according to Walter A. Orenstein, M.D., associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta. In a recent video for MedPage Today, Orenstein offered the following advice for talking to parents about the importance of childhood immunizations:
- Give parents resources to counter misinformation they may receive about vaccine safety. "We as providers need to help parents understand what the best information is," he said, noting that some of the most highly esteemed studies and medical groups in the industry refute the allegations that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could cause autism.
- Build on the trust you've already established with parents. Parents wouldn't bring their children to you for medical care if it weren't for their basic belief that you are knowledgeable and capable of saving their child's life, Orenstein pointed out. And at the end of the day, numerous studies show that the physician is the key person parents turn to for medical information regarding their child, he added.
- Educate about travel risks. Considering that almost all of the measles cases seen today have spread from people coming from other countries, make sure parents understand the elevated importance of protecting their children before traveling outside the western hemisphere, Orenstein said.
To learn more:
- watch the video from MedPage Today