Rethinking Flu Vaccine Messaging.

Abstract

In “Parental Hesitancy About Routine Childhood and Influenza Vaccinations: A National Survey,” Kempe et al1 investigated parental attitudes regarding vaccines. They queried a representative sample of parents using a modified survey that was devised by the World Health Organization. Half of the >4000 parents surveyed responded. Six percent were hesitant about the receipt of routine vaccinations and 26% were hesitant about the receipt of influenza vaccines; however, a similar proportion of participants (39%) had vaccine safety concerns. More participants strongly agreed that routine vaccines were effective (70%) when compared to influenza (26%). The study results are likely generalizable because they originated from a nationally representative sample and measured vaccine hesitancy by using a validated scoring system. One limitation of the survey was its online-only administration, which potentially eliminated parents without Internet access. Why are parents so hesitant about influenza vaccines? The authors propose that it is the result of yearly reports of low vaccine effectiveness from surveillance networks and the withdrawal of the live attenuated vaccine for poor effectiveness several years ago. Additionally, more than one-third of parents have vaccine safety … Address correspondence to Kathryn Edwards, MD, Medical Center North D 7221, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN 37232. E-mail: kathryn.edwards{at}vumc.org