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VANCOUVER — Children who aren’t vaccinated face harsher judgment than the parents responsible for the lack of immunization, says a study examining attitudes concerning a contentious public health issue for which Canada lacks a national strategy.

Other children may not want to sit next to unvaccinated students at school, work on projects with them or go on a play dates at their homes, said Prof. Richard Carpiano, lead study author and a sociologist at the University of British Columbia.

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Children of so-called anti-vaxxers deal with more stigma regardless of the reasons for their parents’ decision, Carpiano said of the study that focused on mothers because they typically make a family’s health decisions.

Some parents don’t want their children vaccinated based on long-debunked fears that vaccines cause autism, mercury poisoning or auto-immune disorders.

“Child vaccination is a complex problem that poses significant health consequences for the child and the community,” said the study published this month in the journal Social Science and Medicine.