A new study finds that 28 % of parents following the CDC-recommended schedule for childhood vaccinations think it would be safer to delay the shots until children are older . The study , published Monday in the journal Pediatrics , confirms that about 2 % of parents living in the United States are refusing all vaccines for their children , and more than one in 10 alter the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended vaccination schedule by delaying or refusing certain vaccines . Among parents following an alternative vaccine schedule , 30 % actually began with the regular schedule , but then changed their minds . `` I was surprised by the malleability of people 's attitudes '' said Dr. Amanda Dempsey , one of the study authors . `` In my own clinical practice , I have been more used to parents pretty firmly decided one way or the other what they wanted to do . '' Parents are refusing certain vaccines at higher rates than others , the study finds . H1N1 and the seasonal flu vaccine topped the rejection list . Among vaccines delayed until a child grows older , the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine , a two-stage vaccine administered at 12 months and then again at age 4 , topped the list . Pediatricians generally stay sensitive to parents ' concerns , accommodating alternative vaccine schedules when requested . `` There is a small group of pediatricians , and I think it 's growing slowly , that tell patients , 'If you come into our practice , we are immunizing your children according to the CDC 's and the American Academy of Pediatrics standard schedule , ' '' said Dr. William Schaffner , who chairs the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University . `` [ They say ] 'Anything less than that is not appropriate for your child . If you 're uncomfortable with that , God bless you , here are the names of some other pediatricians in town who will likely take care of your children . ' '' Schaffner said the main problem , as he sees it , is that parents have no knowledge of the diseases their children are being inoculated against . The diseases have sort of faded from the public consciousness , but can spring back if enough of the population goes unvaccinated . This year has seen more cases of measles than any year since 1996 . As of August , there have been 198 confirmed cases in the United States , according to the CDC , with the vast majority among the unvaccinated . Usually the transmission comes from traveling abroad . Not only do unvaccinated children run the risk of becoming ill or worse , but they also endanger others who do n't have the option to vaccinate . For example , children under 12 months old and those with certain medical conditions like HIV do n't receive the MMR vaccine . Instead they rely on a `` herd effect , '' unprotected themselves , but living among a population where disease ca n't find a foothold . In Europe , the measles outbreak has been far worse than in the United States , with thousands of confirmed cases correlating with a decline in vaccination rates sparked by Andrew Wakefield 's 1998 fraudulent study alleging a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism . Globally , measles still is a leading cause of death among children , killing an estimated 450 people every day , according to the World Health Organization . But many parents fear the vaccines carry a more immediate risk and do damage in ways perhaps not yet documented by medical researchers . What public health officials do know is that about one in six children will experience a fever and one in 3,000 will have a seizure after receiving the MMR vaccine , according to the National Institutes of Health , but severe side effects are extremely rare , and there is no evidence of a link to autism . Parents noticing any reaction in their child after vaccination should report the incident using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System . Regarding her research into parents ' `` malleable '' attitudes on vaccines , Dempsey said figuring out what is swaying parents away from the recommended schedule is important , and something her research can not yet answer .
Two percent of parents living in the United States are refusing all vaccines for their children . Score: 6 In Europe , the measles outbreak has been far worse than in the United States .