Vaccine fears are back in the news today. Many parents are concerned about negative reactions to vaccines and one-quarter think these shots can cause autism, a new study found.

Overall, 54 percent of surveyed parents said they were concerned about “serious adverse effects of vaccines,” according to a story on the new research published today in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  In addition, 25 percent agreed with the statement that “some vaccines cause autism in healthy children.”

That is the bad news. The good news is that the vast majority of parents (90 percent) agreed that vaccines are a good way to protect against disease, and 88 percent said they follow their doctor’s advice on shots, researchers said.

These findings come with a caveat. The work was done before a key study suggesting a link between autism and vaccines was retracted last month. But, widespread worry about vaccines shown in this new report suggests there is a bigger problem than one discounted study.

“Although information is available to address many vaccine safety concerns, such information is not reaching many parents in an effective or convincing manner,” researchers wrote in Parental Vaccine Safety Concerns in 2009. “Continued high childhood immunization rates will be at risk if current safety concerns are not addressed effectively and increase in the future, resulting in more parents’ refusing vaccines.”

Further reading: “1 in 4 Parents Thinks Shots Cause Autism.” Associated Press, via MSNBC.com, 3/1/10.

Research News: A expectant mother’s stress can affect a baby’s cognitive development, but a mom’s nurturing can offset the impact, “Good Parenting Triumphs Over Prenatal Stress.” Thanks to Early Childhood Brain Insights for highlighting the story.