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Children of immunizing parents three times more likely to receive influenza vaccine
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Children whose parents had received an influenza vaccine are nearly three times more likely to be immunized against seasonal influenza than children of unvaccinated parents, and they were also more likely to be compliant with other recommended immunizations, including HPV, according to recent study findings.
“Most parents voluntarily follow the recommended childhood immunization schedule, although a substantial minority of parents are vaccine hesitant and likely to miss [at least] one recommended immunization,” Steve G. Robison, MPH, and Andrew W. Osborn, MBA, from the Oregon Immunization Program at the Oregon Health Division, wrote in Pediatrics. “Parental vaccine hesitancy is a common and well-recognized factor in incomplete childhood immunizations.”
Robison and Osborn also noted that current vaccine hesitancy rates are concerning for several reasons, including the risk for outbreaks, reduced safety for unimmunized or delayed infants, and increasing exemptions for school immunization mandates. The researchers have additional worries that recommended vaccines are not always covered by school mandates, leaving the issues of compliance and vaccine-hesitant adults for providers.
To assess the connection between parental immunization behavior and a child’s likelihood of being vaccinated, the researchers identified pairs of adult caregivers and children aged 9 months to 17 years in the Oregon ALERT Immunization Information System. They assessed the likelihood of concordance between adult and child influenza immunizations for each influenza season from 2010-2011 through 2014-2015. The researchers also assessed whether adult immunization influenced children to receive other recommended vaccines.
Among the 450,687 caregiver and child pairs, children paired with adults who were vaccinated were 2.77 times (95% CI, 2.74-2.79) more likely to vaccinate against influenza across all seasons. Regarding noninfluenza immunizations such as HPV, the researchers noted a significant correlation between adult immunization status and child immunization status.
According to Robison and Osborn, when previously unvaccinated adults decided to get vaccinated, their child was 5.44 times (95% CI, 5.35-5.53) more likely to be vaccinated against influenza. Similarly, when adults changed from immunizing to nonimmunizing, their previously immunized children were also 1.78 times more likely (95% CI, 1.76-1.81) to not immunize against influenza.
“[These findings indicate] that parents’ own behavior is dynamically related to their children’s immunizations, as opposed to a weaker and static finding that parent and child immunizations are correlated,” Robison and Osborn wrote. “Implications of this dynamic relationship are that interventions targeting parents may lead to increased children’s immunization rates and, conversely, that not including parents and families in interventions aimed at improving childhood immunizations may limit their potential for success.” – by Katherine Bortz
- Reference:
- Robison SG, et al. Pediatrics. 2017;doi:10.1542/peds.2016-2883.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.