Further efforts needed to achieve measles elimination in Germany: results of an outbreak investigation
Ole Wichmann, Anette Siedler, Daniel Sagebiel, Wiebke Hellenbrand, Sabine Santibanez, Annette Mankertz, Georg Vogt, Ulrich van Treeck & Gérard Krause
Volume 87, Number 2, February 2009, 108-115
Table 1. Reasons for not being vaccinated against measles given by parents of 272 unvaccinated measles patients in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 2006
| Reason for not being vaccinateda | Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Parents forgot about the vaccination | 115 | 36.4 |
| Parents rejected the vaccination | 88 | 27.8 |
| Afraid of side-effects | 41 | – |
| Generally against vaccinations | 38 | – |
| Believed measles were not harmful | 9 | – |
| Family doctor or paediatrician recommended against vaccination | 53 | 16.8 |
| Underlying diseases of the child | 19b | – |
| Held opinion “it is not necessary” | 15 | – |
| Concerns about side-effects | 4 | – |
| No reasons given | 15 | – |
| Child was too young for vaccination (< 12 months) | 41 | 13.0 |
| Vaccination was not offered by family doctor or paediatrician | 19 | 6.0 |
a More than one reason was given by 44. Patients with missing data (n = 33) or who answered “don’t know” (n = 68) were excluded.
b In 18 of these 19 cases, the reasons provided were not considered true contraindications by the outbreak investigation team (e.g. eczema, “often sick”). In one child an immunodefect was considered a true contraindication.