Abstract
Parental acceptance of routine childhood immunization is critical to protecting children's health, as high vaccination-coverage rates lead to decreased rates of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, to communicate effectively with parents about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, it is necessary to assess their vaccine-related attitudes and concerns continually. Recently the Palestine Ministry of Health has recorded epidemics of measles and mumps. Poor compliance with vaccination has been attributed to multiple factors including physician inadequacy advocating for vaccination and public mistrust of vaccinations. As a result, this study was conducted to describe the vaccine-related attitudes, concerns, and information sources of North Palestinian parents of young children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving parents visiting emergency departments and primary health care centers from different North Palestinian hospitals and centers. 480 surveys were eligible and analyzed. The surveys revealed that although parental confidence in vaccine safety is high, several vaccine-related concerns, such as pain from vaccine administration and the number of vaccines given at once, were common among parents of young children. To maintain and improve the success of childhood vaccines in preventing disease, a holistic approach is needed to address parents' concerns in an ongoing manner. Listening and responding in ways and with resources that address specific questions and concerns could help parents make more informed vaccination decisions.
Highlights
Parental acceptance of routine childhood immunization is essential to protecting and saving children’s health
After An-Najah National University Institution Review Board (IRB) approval and obtaining the permissions from Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), in the period between August 2014 and October 2017, daily visits were conducted to parents visiting pediatric emergency departments and primary health care centers involving five major cities in North Palestine including Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas, and Qalqilia
A cross-sectional survey was conducted (Annex). It consists of thirteen multiple choice items. e survey was used in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) study in 2015 at Tawam Hospital [10]
Summary
Parental acceptance of routine childhood immunization is essential to protecting and saving children’s health. A study showed that high coverage of recommended vaccines in the United States has resulted in a reduction in the incidence of greater than 99% for many vaccinepreventable diseases [1]. Some clusters of people, parents, and schools used to reject using the vaccines as well as preventing others from taking them using various campaigns, beliefs, and thoughts not linked to evidence-based medicine. World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded epidemics of measles and mumps. The Palestinian Ministry of Health has recorded such epidemics recently in Palestine [3]. In the Unites States, the potentials for new epidemics of vaccine-preventable diseases mandates the need for effective communication regarding accurate information on vaccination to parents who are the cornerstone in the children’s vaccination process [1]
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