BMJ 1995;311:811 (23 September)

Letters

Homoeopaths and chiropractors are sceptical about immunisation

EDITOR,--Richard J Roberts and colleagues point to several reasons for disappointingly poor response to immunisation campaigns.1 A further, not well recognised cause is the attitude of some complementary practitioners. One British survey noted that the commonest reason for refusal to immunise was homoeopathy.2 Interesting new data come from Austria, where the practice of homoeopathy by non-medically qualified people is illegal. A recent survey shows that only 23% of Austrian homoeopaths believe that immunisation is important.3 The problem also extends to other complementary practices. One third of American chiropractors believe that there is no scientific proof that immunisation prevents disease and that it causes more illness than it prevents.4

These cumulative data imply that some complementary practitioners (doctors and non-doctors) put their patients at risk through their attitude towards immunisation. This issue needs to be considered when the safety of complementary medicine and its practitioners is discussed.

Professor Centre for Complementary . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Reasons for non-uptake of measles, mumps, and rubella catch up immunisation in a measles epidemic and side effects of the vaccine
Richard J Roberts, Quentin D Sandifer, Merion R Evans, Maria Z Nolan-Farrell, and Paul M Davis
BMJ 1995 310: 1629-1639. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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