Examining the spatiotemporal evolution of vaccine refusal: nonmedical exemptions from vaccination in California, 2000-2013.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Vaccine hesitancy continues to be an issue throughout the United States, as numerous vaccine hesitant parents are choosing to exempt their children from school-entry vaccination requirements for nonmedical reasons, despite the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. We conduct an analysis of how vaccine refusal, measured by the use of nonmedical exemptions (based on personal or religious beliefs) from vaccination (NMEs), evolved across space and over time in California.

Methods

Using school-entry data from the California Department of Public Health, we examined NMEs for students entering kindergarten in California from 2000 to 2013. We conduct global and local spatial autocorrelation analysis to determine whether NME use became more geographically clustered over the

SUBMITTER: Delamater PL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5913803 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature