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Perceptions of Vaccine Efficacy, Illness, And Health Among Inner-City Parents

Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland

Bonita Stanton, M.D.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland

Lisa Horton, M.D.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland

Robert Aronson, M.P.H.

Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Jennifer Galbraith, M.A.

Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Nancy Hughart, R.N., M.P.H.

Department of Maternal Child Health, School of Hygiene and Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

A resurgence of measles in the past decade has focused attention on the limitations of current immunization programs, particularly for inner-city, low-income populations. As part of a larger study of immunization rates, we discussed perceptions of disease severity and vaccine efficacy, as well as the prioritization of the tasks of parenthood, with 40 parents of infants living in inner-city Baltimore to discover their beliefs about immunization. Vaccines were considered only partly successful; susceptibility to chickenpox after vaccination was repeatedly cited as evidence of vaccine failure. Fever was seen as a primary indicator of illness; thus, vaccines were believed to cause, rather than prevent, illness. Immunization was not considered a high-priority parental responsibility. These findings suggest future interventions be aimed at changing parental perceptions of vaccines as ineffective and of fever after immunization as an indicator of illness. Finally, immunizations should be made easily available, even during clinic visits for a child's illness.

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