Since the Vaccine Wars seem to have returned...

An interesting article from a couple of years ago about whether health providers' age correlates with skepticism of the efficacy of vaccines.

Percentage of providers reporting high belief in vaccine efficacy by year of health professional graduation:



Percentage of providers reporting high belief in vaccine safety by year of health professional graduation:



So, to the great consternation of anti-vaxers, I'd first point out that skepticism about the safety of any vaccines is in statistically insignificant territory among actual in-the-trenches healthcare providers.

(Note, this includes MD's, RN's, OD's, NP's, and a single LPN -- I had corresponded with the author when this came out asking if he had a crosstab by specialty, to which he said "somewhere", but then forgot to follow up.)

The efficacy question is very interesting, though: providers' belief in the efficacy of influenza and varicella vaccines is surprisingly low.