Some Health Care Workers Are Ambivalent About Second Dose of MMR Vaccine.(measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine dosage differences show lack of standardization in education about vaccine's administration)

2001 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) --

by N.R. Saltmarsh, staff medical writer -- A survey of health care workers in Wales reveals a lack of standardization in education about and delivery of the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR).

M. Petrovic and colleagues with the North Wales Health Authority administered surveys to doctors, nurses, and visiting health care workers to find out how their knowledge of the MMR vaccine, particularly the second dose, related to actual care delivery.

In many cases, the research team discovered a lack of familiarity with health authority policies and an unwillingness to enforce them.

A self-administered questionnaire received responses from 148 health visitors, 239 practice nurses, and 206 general practitioners. Questions covered respondents' knowledge of the MMR vaccine and its possible side effects, and their attitudes to patient education.

Half of the 460 respondents had reservations about delivering the second dose of the vaccine, and 3% flatly disagreed with the policy of giving it. This was likely due to the vaccine's possible relationship to Crohn's disease and autism, Petrovic and colleagues reported in the British Medical Journal.

One-third of the nurse respondents felt that the MMR vaccine was very likely or possibly associated with Crohn's disease, and 27% said that it was associated with autism.