Reasons of Measles-Rubella (MR) Vaccine Hesitancy Amongst the Parents of Primary and Secondary School Children: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Vaccination is the cheapest and most successful public health intervention saving millions of lives and money every year. The vaccination acts like a doubleedged sword it directly protects the vaccinated one and indirectly increases herd immunity. But these vaccines are victims of their own success. To lessen the burden of congenital Rubella Syndrome Government of India had planned to eliminate measles and congenital rubella syndrome by 2020. Even though vaccination saves millions of lives, there is increasing vaccine hesitancy which has become a matter of concern. Aim and Objective: To determine the proportion of children not vaccinated with MR and to know the various reasons of vaccine hesitancy among the parents of these children. Material and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among parents of primary and secondary school children (less than 15 years of age) from government schools, private Marathi schools, private English and semi-English schools in Latur city. A total of 9300 school children were screened for vaccination with MR. Either of the parents of 247 children who were not vaccinated for MR were interviewed for reasons of not vaccinating the child. Results: Out of 9300 school children screened, 247(2.66%) were not vaccinated with MR vaccine out of which 126 (51.01%) were from Marathi school and most were boys (79.35%). One hundred thirty-two children (53.44%) were from class IV and V socioeconomic status and 69.23% were from nuclear families. Various reasons were mentioned by the parents for not vaccinating the children. 132 (53.44%) parents said that it may affect the fertility of the child, 48.18% were worried about the safety of newly launched vaccine, 44.94% avoided it purposefully with no reason while 52.63% did not give it due to minor illness of the child, commonest being the respiratory infection. Conclusion: Rumours about effect on fertility, minor illnesses and safety about newly introduced vaccine, side effects of the vaccines, and parents' perceptions on natural immunity better than vaccine acquired were some of the leading reasons of vaccine hesitancy