61 percent of millennials familiar with anti-vaccination movement agree with some beliefs: survey

Sixty-one percent of millennials familiar with the anti-vaccination movement said they agreed with at least some of its beliefs, according to NBC News, citing a survey released Thursday by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The survey, which polled 1,000 adults, also found that 55 percent of respondents in their 20s and 30s did not receive the flu vaccine this year, although the majority cited lack of time or forgetting as the reason rather than opposition to vaccination.

“I think there’s a missed opportunity to really build trust and communication and encourage millennials to get flu shots,” Dr. Alexa Mieses, a family physician unaffiliated with the survey, told the publication, adding that numerous people in their 20s and 30s lack a relationship with a family physician and frequently seek care through urgent care or telemedicine when sick.

The survey also indicated that parents are receiving misinformation about the flu vaccination, with nearly 60 percent of polled parents saying their child has missed at least one flu shot, 20 percent expressing concerns that the vaccine would give their child the flu and 10 percent expressing doubt the flu was serious enough to warrant vaccination.

A 4-year-old Iowa girl recently lost her sight after her mother, who had gotten her daughter vaccinated for the flu last March, did not get her vaccinated this season. It is not yet known whether she will regain her sight.

The rise of the anti-vaccination movement has led to numerous measles outbreaks in recent years after the disease was considered eradicated.