Greetings from your District II Representatives!  We are happy to bring you the next District II newsletter.  We hope to provide you with some useful information and resources that are available to you as an AAP District II resident member.

     Again, we are your resident representatives.  We want to know what is going on in New York State on the chapter level.  District II is a very active district, with many programs going on around this state.  Our district is one of two districts that have only one state in their district.  This gives us the chance to have great unity among the resident members.  We are all New Yorker’s, rural to urban; mountain to coast.

     Let us know what programs are happening around your hospital and community, and how we can help.  We are available to you for any questions you might have regarding issues that we as pediatric residents, soon-to-be fellows and attendings face.

Sincerely,

Each year the SOMSRFT takes on an advocacy project that is launched at the National Conference & Exhibition (NCE).  In 2010, in conjunction with the AAP collaboration with the White House, Bright Futures, and other national organizations fighting childhood obesity, our Section (SOMSRFT) has decided to get in the ring and target childhood obesity for our advocacy campaign.

     Despite our best efforts to educate parents about the need to vaccinate their children through discussions of vaccine-preventable diseases, the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing them, and the realistic chances of vaccine-associated adverse events, some will decline to have their children vaccinated.  The incredible success of immunizations in dramatically reducing the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases has led to an increased public focus on vaccine safety.  Even though scientific data and doctors solidly support the fact that vaccines are safe and effective, research on hypotheses about harmful side effects often is taken out of context.  Safety concerns, some appropriate and many inappropriate but widely discussed in the media and on unmonitored and biased Web sites, cause substantial and often unrealistic fears.  Although most parents believe they are safe, up to 25% have important misconceptions about vaccine safety that may lead the parents to refuse some or all immunizations for their children.  According to an AAP Periodic Survey of Fellows, 79% of pediatricians have had one or more instances of parents refusing to allow their child or children to be vaccinated.  About 10% of pediatricians report 10% or more of parents are avoiding vaccines because of safety concerns.

     All parents and patients should be informed about the risks and benefits of preventive and therapeutic procedures, including vaccination.  In the case of vaccination, federal law mandates this discussion.  Despite doctors’ and nurses’ best efforts to explain its importance, some families will refuse vaccination for their children.

     The Section on Infectious Diseases and other contributing sections and committees hope this form will be helpful to you as you deal with parents who refuse immunizations.  It will be available on the AAP Web site (www.aap.org/bookstore), the Section on Infectious Diseases Web site (http://www.aap.org/sections/infectdis/index.cfm), and the Web site for the Academy’s Childhood Immunization Support Program (http://www.aap.org/immunization/).  The use of this or a similar form can demonstrate the importance you place on appropriate immunizations and focus the parent's attention on the unnecessary risk for which they are accepting responsibility.