School absenteeism, parental work loss, and acceptance of childhood influenza vaccination

Influenza causes school absenteeism and may cause parents to miss work to care for sick children. However, it is not known whether these factors influence parental acceptance of childhood vaccination.

A survey was mailed to parents of 1,805 children attending 3 elementary schools. It included questions about school absenteeism and employment status for adults who stayed home to care for an ill child. Parents were asked if they would consider vaccinating their child against a common wintertime respiratory virus.

Of the 972 surveys returned (54% return rate), 954 could be analyzed. Only 13% of respondents stated that they would not consider vaccination for their child. Sixty-nine percent of children had been absent from school because of a nonasthma respiratory illness, with an average of 2.54 days missed per child. Among respondents whose child had missed any school, 33% would definitely consider vaccination compared with 24% of respondents whose child had not missed school (P < 0.01). As children missed more school days, vaccine acceptance increased. In 53% of families, an adult had to miss work to care for the ill child. Vaccine acceptance was higher if an adult caretaker had to lose time from work because of a child's illness (35% versus 25% for non-working caretakers, P < 0.01).

Vaccine acceptance was closely linked with the amount of absenteeism caused by respiratory illness in the previous year. Parents who had to miss work to care for an ill child were more accepting of the vaccine than were other parents.