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University of Michigan

Survey: 74% might pull kids from day care over vaccines

Jolie Lee
USA TODAY Network
Duncan Barnes, 1, is held by his mother, Jennifer Barnes, while receiving a vaccine for swine flu from Dr. Susan Henderson, left, and a vaccine for seasonal flu from nurse Allison Ross at Emory Children's Center in Atlanta in 2009.

Three in four parents say they would consider taking their child out of day care if they found out other kids attending were not up-to-date on vaccinations, according to a new survey.

Researchers at the University of Michigan conducted the nationwide survey of 614 parents with children ages 5 and under.

They asked the parents what they would do if one in four kids at their child's day care was under-vaccinated.

It turns out this proportion of under-vaccinated children is not so far-fetched. Nationally, more than 30% of 2-year-olds are not up-to-date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although day care centers require a set of vaccines when a child enters, many don't continually check that a child is up-to-date, said Sarah Clark, a research scientist with the University of Michigan's Department of Pediatrics, who conducted the survey.

"If your kid starts day care at 4 months old and is up-to-date, that's fantastic. But in two months, there's another set of vaccines due, and four months after that, there's another set," Clark said.

Other findings:

• Four in 10 parents support a day care policy that exclude under-vaccinated kids.

• Two-thirds said they want to be informed of the number of kids in their child's day care who are not fully vaccinated.

• Only one-quarter of respondents said they want the names of the children who are not fully vaccinated.

"That illustrates the sensitivity around not making this about a witch hunt against Johnny or Suzy. It's more about giving parents the information to assess their own kid's disease risk," Clark said.

The anti-vaccine movement has contributed to the lack of vaccination, but more so the lag comes from logistics, Clark said. The CDC lists 28 vaccines children should have by the time they are 18 years old.

Vaccines are "so everyday on one hand, yet on the other hand people haven't stopped to think about it," she said.

Follow @JoieLeeDC on Twitter.

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