Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States

Childhood immunization involves a balance between parents' autonomy in deciding whether to immunize their children and the benefits to public health from mandating vaccines. Ethical concerns about pediatric vaccination span several public health domains, including those of policymakers, clinici...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2016-02, Vol.106 (2), p.273-278
Main Authors: Hendrix, Kristin S, Sturm, Lynne A, Zimet, Gregory D, Meslin, Eric M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AJPH Law and Ethics
Attitudes
Behavior
Child
Child, Preschool
Childrens health
Clinical medicine
Communication
Disease Outbreaks - prevention & control
Epidemics
Ethics
Health care policy
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health Policy
Herd immunity
Humans
Illnesses
Immunity, Herd
Immunization
Immunization/Vaccines
Infant
Infectious diseases
Measles
Other Child and Adolescent Health
Parental rights
Parents & parenting
Pediatrics
Public health
Religion
Rotavirus
Treatment Refusal - ethics
Treatment Refusal - legislation & jurisprudence
United States
Vaccination - ethics
Vaccines
Vaccines - administration & dosage
Viruses
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Childhood immunization involves a balance between parents' autonomy in deciding whether to immunize their children and the benefits to public health from mandating vaccines. Ethical concerns about pediatric vaccination span several public health domains, including those of policymakers, clinicians, and other professionals. In light of ongoing developments and debates, we discuss several key ethical issues concerning childhood immunization in the United States and describe how they affect policy development and clinical practice. We focus on ethical considerations pertaining to herd immunity as a community good, vaccine communication, dismissal of vaccine-refusing families from practice, and vaccine mandates. Clinicians and policymakers need to consider the nature and timing of vaccine-related discussions and invoke deliberative approaches to policy-making.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302952