Background
Parents can be the source of vaccine preventable diseases that their children contract. The vaccination status of parents may not be readily available, and uptake rates are affected by factors such as complexity of vaccination schedules, personal perception of risks, and physician recommendation.
Discussion
Taking an immunisation history from parents and recommending specific vaccinations to them is likely to be a worthwhile intervention to add to general practice consultations for childhood vaccinations. Trialling this intervention in a broader cross section of general practices would be a useful next step.
Results
Vaccination was recommended for 66.1% of parents. Of these parents,
53% complied, resulting in improved up-to-date vaccination status from
33.9–68.9% (p<0.0001).
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