Adamos Hadjipanayis1, Diego van Esso2, Stefano Del Torso3, Hans Jürgen Dornbusch4, Kyriaki Michailidou5, Nadia Minicuci6, Ruzha Pancheva7, Aida Mujkic8, Karin Geitmann9, Garyfallia Syridou10, Peter Altorjai11, Angela Pasinato12, Arunas Valiulis13, Paul Soler14, Olga Cirstea15, Károly Illy16, Liesbeth Mollema17, Artur Mazur18, Ana Neves19, Jernej Zavrsnik20, Fedir Lapii21, Elisavet Efstathiou22, Mascha Kamphuis23, Zachi Grossman24. 1. Paediatric Department, Larnaca General Hospital, Inomenon Polition, Larnaca 6042, Cyprus; European University Medical School, 6, Diogenis Street, Engomi, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus. Electronic address: adamos@paidiatros.com. 2. Primary Care Service, Catalan Institute of Health, Barcelona, Spain. 3. Pediatric clinic, ULSS 16, Padova, Italy. 4. Medical University of Graz, Austria. Electronic address: hansjuergen.dornbusch@medunigraz.at. 5. Department of Electron Microscopy/Molecular Pathology and Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Cyprus. Electronic address: kyriakimi@cing.ac.cy. 6. CNR, Neuroscience Institute, Padova, Italy. Electronic address: nadia.minicuci@unipd.it. 7. Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Prof. Paraskev Stoyanov Medical University, Bulgaria. 8. University of Zagreb, School of Medicine, Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: amujkic@snz.hr. 9. PCP, Member of BVKJ, 58095 Hagen, Germany. Electronic address: k.geitmann@web.de. 10. Paediatric Department, Thriasio General Hospital of Elefsina Athens, Greece. 11. Tóth Ilona Healthcare Service, Primary Paediatric Care Offices Görgey Artúr tér 8, Budapest H-1212, Hungary. 12. Pediatra di libera scelta, Azienda 8 Berica, Pediatra, Vicenza, Italy. 13. Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine and Institute of Health Sciences, Vilnius City Clinical Hospital, Vilnius, Lithuania. Electronic address: arunas.valiulis@mf.vu.lt. 14. Department of Child & Adolescent Health, Mater Dei Hospital Msida, Malta. Electronic address: paul.r.soler@gov.mt. 15. Department of Pediatrics, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemitanu"Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. Electronic address: olga.cirstea@usmf.md. 16. Department of Paediatrics, Ziekenhuis Rivierenland, Tiel, the Netherlands. Electronic address: k.illy@zrt.nl. 17. Centre for Infectious Disease Control, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. Electronic address: Liesbeth.Mollema@rivm.nl. 18. Medical Faculty, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland. Electronic address: drmazur@poczta.onet.pl. 19. Pediatric Allergy Unit, Pediatric Department, University Hospital of Santa Maria, Faculty of Medicine, Lisbon University, Portugal. 20. Community Health Center "dr. Adollf Drolc", Maribor, Slovenia. Electronic address: jernej.zavrsnik@zd-mb.si. 21. National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Pediatric Immunology, Kyiv, Ukraine. 22. Paediatric Department, Larnaca General Hospital, Larnaca, Cyprus. 23. Dutch Expertise Center Child Abuse, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Electronic address: mascha@ajnjeugdartsen.nl. 24. Pediatric Clinic, Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel. Electronic address: zgrosman@netvision.net.il.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that vaccines save 2-3 million lives worldwide every year, a percentage of children are not getting appropriately vaccinated, thus leading to disease outbreaks. One of the major reasons of low vaccine uptake in Europe is vaccine hesitancy, contributing to the recent measles outbreaks. Monitoring of vaccine hesitancy is valuable in early identification of vaccine concerns. METHODS: We performed an eighteen country European survey on parents' attitudes and behaviors regarding their children's immunization. Parents having at least one child 1-4 years old were mostly recruited by primary care paediatricians to reply to a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed by the European Academy of Paediatrics Research in Ambulatory Setting Network steering committee, based on similar surveys. An individual level hesitancy score was constructed using the answers to 21 questions, and correlations of the score with socio-demographic characteristics and types of providers were explored. To assess inter country differences, a country level self -reported confidence was defined. RESULTS: Fifty six percent and 24% of 5736 respondents defined themselves as "not at all hesitant", and "somewhat hesitant", respectively. Parents who consulted general practitioners were more hesitant than parents who consulted pediatricians (p < 0.05). Consultation with homeopathists was associated with the highest reported hesitancy (p < 0.05). Vaccine confidence was highest in Portugal and Cyprus, and lowest in Bulgaria and Poland. CONCLUSION: The majority of parents in Europe believe in the importance of childhood vaccination. However, significant lack of confidence was found in certain European countries, highlighting the need for continuous monitoring, awareness and response plans. The possible influence of different types of healthcare providers on parental decisions demonstrated for the first time in our survey, calls for further research. Monitoring and continuous medical education efforts aimed mostly at those professionals who might not be likely to recommend vaccination are suggested.
BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that vaccines save 2-3 million lives worldwide every year, a percentage of children are not getting appropriately vaccinated, thus leading to disease outbreaks. One of the major reasons of low vaccine uptake in Europe is vaccine hesitancy, contributing to the recent measles outbreaks. Monitoring of vaccine hesitancy is valuable in early identification of vaccine concerns. METHODS: We performed an eighteen country European survey on parents' attitudes and behaviors regarding their children's immunization. Parents having at least one child 1-4 years old were mostly recruited by primary care paediatricians to reply to a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed by the European Academy of Paediatrics Research in Ambulatory Setting Network steering committee, based on similar surveys. An individual level hesitancy score was constructed using the answers to 21 questions, and correlations of the score with socio-demographic characteristics and types of providers were explored. To assess inter country differences, a country level self -reported confidence was defined. RESULTS: Fifty six percent and 24% of 5736 respondents defined themselves as "not at all hesitant", and "somewhat hesitant", respectively. Parents who consulted general practitioners were more hesitant than parents who consulted pediatricians (p < 0.05). Consultation with homeopathists was associated with the highest reported hesitancy (p < 0.05). Vaccine confidence was highest in Portugal and Cyprus, and lowest in Bulgaria and Poland. CONCLUSION: The majority of parents in Europe believe in the importance of childhood vaccination. However, significant lack of confidence was found in certain European countries, highlighting the need for continuous monitoring, awareness and response plans. The possible influence of different types of healthcare providers on parental decisions demonstrated for the first time in our survey, calls for further research. Monitoring and continuous medical education efforts aimed mostly at those professionals who might not be likely to recommend vaccination are suggested.
Authors: Tammy A Santibanez; Kimberly H Nguyen; Stacie M Greby; Allison Fisher; Paul Scanlon; Achal Bhatt; Anup Srivastav; James A Singleton Journal: Pediatrics Date: 2020-11-09 Impact factor: 7.124
Authors: Andrea Maggioni; Jose A Gonzales-Zamora; Alessandra Maggioni; Lori Peek; Samantha A McLaughlin; Ulrich von Both; Marieke Emonts; Zelde Espinel; James M Shultz Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-06-08 Impact factor: 4.614