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ByLindseyTanner TheAssociatedPress CHICAGO Parentshavein- creasingly pressured doc- tors to delay vaccines for young children, making their kids and others vul- nerable to preventable dis- eases, a study suggests. The findings are in a na- tional survey of pediatri- cians and family doctors asked about parents want- ing to postpone some of the many shots recommended for children younger than age 2. Nearly all doctors said that at least some par- ents had requested vaccine delays in a typical month; and 1 in 4 said those num- bers had increased since the previous year. More about the survey in Monday's Pediatrics and de- laying childhood vaccines: Thestudy The researchers surveyed 534 doctors by email or reg- ular mail in 2012. Partic- ipants were doctors who are members of the Amer- ican Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians — the two leading groups of doc- tors who treat young chil- dren. One in 5 doctors said at least 10 percent of par- ents had requested vaccine delays by spreading them out over more months than is recommended. Most doctors said the practice puts kids at risk for getting vaccine-preventable diseases and might lead to disease outbreaks, but most also said they at least some- times agreed to the delays. Only 3 percent said they often or always tell parents who insist on vaccine delays to seek care from another doctor. The concerns The potential repercus- sions are worrisome and are happening "right now with the measles outbreak," said Dr. Allison Kempe, a University of Colorado re- searcher and a member of the federal Centers for Dis- ease Control and Preven- tion's vaccine advisory com- mittee. Kempe is the study's lead author. More than 150 people in several states have been infected with mea- sles, including infants too young to be vaccinated. Most cases are tied to an outbreak at Disneyland in California, which likely be- gan with a traveler who brought it in, as has been the case in other U.S. out- breaks. The exact source of the Disneyland-linked cases is not known. Doctors are concerned about unvaccinated or un- der-vaccinated children be- coming ill and spreading disease to others. Vaccine recommendations Vaccinations against 14 diseases are recommended for children younger than 2, starting at birth and given every few months. Some shots combine vaccines against more than one dis- ease; the measles shot also protects against mumps and German measles. Even so, young children may get five shots at once under the recommended vaccine schedule. Some parents want to de- lay shots by spacing them out, partly to spare their kids from getting jabbed so many times at one sitting. Doctors surveyed said other reasons include wor- ries about possible long- term complications and other risks from vaccines, which medical experts say are unfounded. The study didn't ask doc- tors which vaccines parents asked to delay. The recommended vac- cine schedules are based on research on timing shots to be most effective at prevent- ing disease. Delaying shots meant to be given at a certain age means they may be less ef- fective. It also makes it more likely that children will never get vaccinated, be- cause parents get too busy or forget to schedule an- other doctor's visit, said Dr. Robert Frenck, an in- fectious diseases special- ist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He was not involved in the new study. "People just don't un- derstand that these dis- eases are all there, they're not gone. They're just be- ing kept at bay right now. If people stop vaccinat- ing, they come right back," Frenck said. SURVEY Parentsincreasinglyaskdoctorstodelayvaccines THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A pediatrician uses a syringe to vaccinate a 1-year-old with the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine in Northridge. By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON Attempts to quarantine health work- ers returning from Ebola- stricken West Africa were a mistake, the president's bioethics advisers said last week. The U.S. has a moral re- sponsibility, as well as a self-interest, in helping to fight public health emer- gencies around the globe, said the Presidential Com- mission for the Study of Bio- ethical Issues. The panel ex- amined the U.S. response to the Ebola outbreak that devastated Liberia, Sierra Leona and Guinea over the past year. It concluded that the nation must improve its health infrastructure and emergency response to be ready to respond quickly to next major disease out- break, and it urged that eth- ics expertise be part of that planning. "Make sure we learn from history," said Univer- sity of Pennsylvania presi- dent Amy Gutmann, who chairs the commission. Among the most contro- versial questions last year was whether to quarantine health workers and oth- ers who arrived in the U.S. from the outbreak zones and had no symptoms of concern. Ebola isn't conta- gious until symptoms arise, and federal health officials recommended daily moni- toring for fever during the virus' incubation period. Yet several states last fall attempted to impose quar- antines instead, respond- ing to public panic. Nurse Kaci Hickox made head- lines fighting the measures when she flew back to the U.S. only to be sequestered in a medical tent for several days in New Jersey and then discharged to her home in Maine. The bioethics panel heard testimony that worry about quarantine deterred health workers from volun- teering to help — and con- cluded that policies like travel curbs or quarantine should be based on science and use the least restrictive means necessary. "Needlessly restricting the freedom of expert and caring health workers is both morally wrong and counterproductive," Gut- mann said. "It will do more to lose than to save lives." Dr. Craig Spencer, a New York doctor who developed Ebola after returning from treating patients in Guinea, sparked fear because he had ridden the subway be- fore any symptoms ap- peared. In The New Eng- land Journal of Medicine this week, he wrote that politicians should have ed- ucated the public about the science of Ebola and acted accordingly. "We all lose when we al- low irrational fear, fueled in part by prime-time ratings and political expediency, to supersede pragmatic public health preparedness," Spen- cer wrote. The bioethics panel also recommended that: • A single U.S. health of- ficial be placed in charge of coordinating the govern- ment response to health emergencies. • Health officials com- municate early, often and clearly, to explain the ratio- nale behind health policies to a frightened public. • The quest for Ebola vaccines continue with the same urgency. VIRUS Panel: Base quarantines, other outbreak decisions on science THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Dr. Craig Spencer, who was the first Ebola patient in New York City, listens to comments during a news conference at New York's Bellevue Hospital last November. www.redbluff.mercy.org redbluff.mercy.org Grief Support 3:00pm-5:00pm 3/5 Thursday Wright Kristin Hoskins 528-4207 Childbirth Series 6:30pm-8:30pm 3/5, 12 & 19 Thursday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events Community Basic Life Support 6:00pm-10:00pm 3/10 2nd Tuesday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events Healthier Living with Chronic Conditions 2:00pm-4:30pm 3/13, 20 & 27 Friday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events Lupus/Fibromyalgia Support Group 5:30pm-8:00pm 3/17 3rd Tuesday Columba Jackie Kitchell 529-3029 Serving Red Bluff for 30 years Look to us for Expert Eye Care. Board Certified by American Board of Ophthalmology Clinical Professor at UC Davis Medical Center Daniel M. 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