Use of mobile communication technology to overcome vaccine skepticism

Abstract

Despite significant advances in clinical medicine, infectious diseases and their prevention remain the leading problem of our time. Low literacy of the population reggarding immunization, combined with high activity of the anti-vaccination movement, creates unhealthy skepticism about immunoprophylaxis and the risks of epidemics. The work uses theoretical analysis of literature, methods of anonymous questionnaires of students of medical and non-medical specialties, methods of statistical and bioinformatics data processing, and modern internet technologies: the platform of the social network “Vkontakte” and the program for creating a chatbot “Senler”. The analysis of commitment to vaccination of medical and non-medical students showed that 65.8% to 96.2% of respondents have a positive attitude to preventive health measures. From 1.9% to 6% believe the disease is easier to treat than to prevent, and almost 30% of respondents do not think about prevention and diseases in general, considering themselves young. Almost 10% of non-medical students (1 group) consider vaccination useless, 8.4% dangerous for immunity, 18.3% know nothing about vaccinations and cannot compare the benefits of vaccination with the risk of infectious pathology. In order to form medical literacy of the population, including in strategic issues of preserving the health of the nation, the team of authors developed and implemented through the social network “Vkontakte” chatbot “Vaccine and point” containing up-to-date information about vaccines, methods multiplicity and age features of their use. People [n = 156] used the chatbot during the month of work, noting its high informational value, motivating to vaccination. Analysis of commitment to vaccination of students of medical and non-medical specialties showed an insufficient level of trust in domestic preventive medicine, which forms an unhealthy attitude to vaccine prevention. Insufficient vaccine coverage creates real threats to the spread of infectious diseases at the population level. Developed and implemented in real practice, the “Vaccine and point” chatbot is an effective tool for increasing the knowledge of compatriots about the real possibilities of protection against the main vaccine-controlled infections and an additional attempt to overcome anti-vaccination skepticism.