"Many primary care pediatricians find vaccine hesitancy to be one of the most frustrating situations that they face."

Pediatrics. 2014 Feb 10. [Epub ahead of print]

A 6-Month-Old With Vaccine-Hesitant Parents.

Opel DJ, Feemster KA, Omer SB, Orenstein WA, Richter M, Lantos JD.

Author information

• Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, Washington.

Abstract

Many primary care pediatricians find vaccine hesitancy to be one of the most frustrating situations that they face. Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children implicitly call into question an intervention that most pediatricians see as one of the safest and most effective health care interventions of all time. Many pediatricians respond by refusing to care for children whose parents refuse vaccines, and some may consider that the parent's refusal warrants referral to child protective services. We present a case in which a pediatrician faces this dilemma, with responses from pediatricians in academia and private practice.