In many ways good health is a foundation for early learning and vaccines are critical building blocks of that foundation. Today, a new survey found many parents are asking their pediatricians about alternative schedules for shots.

More than 75 percent of doctors surveyed in Washington state said parents sometimes or frequently ask for alternative childhood immunization schedules, and the majority (61 percent) of these doctors are comfortable using those schedules, according to the survey released by Pediatrics today.

The results are the latest evidence that the debate about vaccine safety continues to grow, despite proven benefits of shots and studies that repeatedly show shots aren’t linked to increases in autism.

While this debate raises public health concerns, today’s report actually highlights an opportunity to improve the quality of this discussion. When a parent asks about vaccine safety during a well-child visit it creates a chance to talk about worries and educate families about the research and benefits of getting all the shots. The challenge, of course, will be to create more time in those often rushed visits for these talks.

But, doctors have to find time because vaccines are so important to a child’s health, Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson, author of the popular blog, Seattle Mama Doc, said.

“This is a great platform for helping families understand the benefits of vaccines and that with every intervention and every non-intervention there is risk,” Dr. Swanson said in an interview this morning.

Head over to Dr. Swanson’s excellent blog for an in-depth look at the study and a Q&A with one of its authors, Dr. Doug Opel from Seattle Children’s Hospital. (The blog is worth checking out for many reasons, including the important details of the survey, such as what vaccines doctors are often willing to delay and what shots a child should have on schedule.