Abstract
BackgroundTo counter the rise in invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) serogroup W, the Netherlands introduced a menACWY catch-up vaccination campaign for teenagers in 2018 and 2019. Teenagers and parents who have questions or who seek advice from a professional about vaccinations are likely to consult a youth healthcare professional or their general practitioner. This study aimed to appraise the ability of these healthcare professionals to meet the information needs of teenagers and their parents at the start of the vaccination campaign.MethodsWith online surveys, we assessed information needs in teenagers (N = 1603) and parents (N = 1784) concerning IMD and the menACWY vaccination, and in healthcare professionals (N = 520) in their communication with teenagers and parents. We additionally studied healthcare professionals’ expectations of the information needs of teenagers and parents.ResultsWe identified several information needs about IMD and the menACWY vaccination in teenagers, parents and healthcare professionals. Some important commonalities in the information needs in these three groups were found, with regard to the topics IMD prevention, vaccine effectiveness and vaccine protection duration. Healthcare professionals’ expectations of the information needs of teenagers and parents were quite accurate but some important discrepancies were found.ConclusionOur results suggest that healthcare professionals might not have been optimally equipped or prepared for questions from teenagers and their parents at the beginning of the vaccination campaign. We recommend public health institutes to timely assess and meet information needs about new vaccines in healthcare professionals to optimally equip them for consultations.
Highlights
To counter the rise in invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) serogroup W, the Netherlands introduced a menACWY catch-up vaccination campaign for teenagers in 2018 and 2019
The current study aims to appraise the ability of healthcare professionals, youth healthcare professionals and general practitioner (GP), to meet the information needs of parents and teenagers about the rise in IMD infections and the menACWY vaccination at the start of the catchup menACWY vaccination campaign in 2018
We studied information needs in teenagers and parents concerning IMD and the menACWY vaccination, and we studied to what extent healthcare professionals expected these information needs in teenagers and parents
Summary
To counter the rise in invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) serogroup W, the Netherlands introduced a menACWY catch-up vaccination campaign for teenagers in 2018 and 2019. Between 2015 and 2018, there has been a rapid increase in the number of cases with invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) caused by Neisseria meningitidis strain W135 in the Netherlands. The CFR was highest among adolescents aged 14–24 years old with 26% [1]. In response to the rise in IMD W cases, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports decided to replace the meningococcal C (MenC) vaccination in the National Immunization Program (NIP) with the menACWY conjugate vaccine for children aged 14 months from May 2018 onwards. Teenagers aged 14–18 years were invited for a menACWY catch-up campaign in 2018 and 2019 [1]
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