Journal roundup: Assessing parental doubts; Cost-effectiveness models in vaccine policy-making

As we do periodically, here are some papers of note published recently in the medical literature. (All require a subscription in order to view the full text.)

• "Parents with Doubts about Vaccines: Which Vaccines and Reasons Why" (Pediatrics, Vol. 122, No. 4, 718-725); A survey of nearly 4,000 parents aimed at understanding the factors contributing to doubts over vaccinating their children or decisions to delay or reject vaccines. The authors note the impact of vaccine safety concerns -- some specific, others general -- on parents with doubts about vaccines and the role of information from physicians in causing parents to change their minds and proceed with vaccination.

• "The Role of Economic Information in Decision-making by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices" (Vaccine, Vol. 26, Iss. 42, 5389-5392); A survey of ACIP members' views regarding the use and importance of economic data -- principally cost-effectiveness analyses -- in the development of ACIP recommendations. (While published this fall, the study interviewed the 2006 ACIP membership. This summer, guidelines regarding presentations of economic data were issued by CDC, attempting to address suggestions raised in this survey and elsewhere regarding the standardization of economic presentations.)

• "Funding of Drugs: Do Vaccines Warrant a Different Approach?" (Lancet Infectious Diseases, Vol. 8, No. 11, 727-733); Another paper on the impact of population-level economic analyses on vaccine policy. The authors detail some of the unique characteristics of vaccines and vaccination programs (compared to pharmaceuticals) that make cost-effectiveness analyses more complicated for vaccine policy-makers. Includes examinations of several specific vaccines and the challenges they raise for economic analyses of their impact across populations.