The benefit of the doubt or doubts over benefits? A systematic literature review of perceived risks of vaccines in European populations

Abstract

Findings: A total of 145 articles were selected, most of which were conducted in the UK, the Netherlands and France and studied seasonal influenza, HPV and pandemic influenza vaccination. Across all countries and vaccines, the primary area of concern was vaccine safety, followed by perceptions of low likelihood of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs), perceived low severity of VPDs, beliefs that vaccines do not work, and overall lack of information. Concerns were found to be vaccine-, country-and populationspecific. Conclusion: In addition to identifying concerns about vaccination in Europe, this study confirmed the notion that individuals have many safety concerns about vaccination and often believe that the risks of vaccination outweigh their benefits. More research needs to be conducted to explore the impact of different types of communication strategies, which would frame the benefits of vaccination as well as risks of not vaccinating. Strategies to better inform public perceptions of vaccines should include the provision of unbiased, comprehensive information tailored to population information needs, and delivered using multiple and new communication technologies such as social media.

Vaccine Hesitancy Among Pediatric Nurses: Prevalence and Associated Factors

“…This can be related to the perceived scarcity of e cacy studies or a lack of clear information about the infection and the vaccine. (27) The low perception of the safety of HPV vaccine, among vaccine hesitant nurses is consistent with a study that found that primary healthcare professionals had been receiving contradictory information about the effectiveness and e cacy of this vaccine. (28) Another differential factor between hesitant and non-hesitant was the low perception of the severity of immuno-preventable diseases.…”

Safety profile of human papilloma virus vaccines: an analysis of the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System from 2007 to 2017

“…This was possible due to the combined action of the early screening through the Papanicolaou test and prophylactic vaccination with HPV vaccines. Three HPV vaccines are now available: Cervarix (HPV 16 and 18), Gardasil (HPV 6,11,16,18) and Gardasil 9 (HPV 6,11,16,18,31,33,45,52,58). Several studies have emphasized the efficacy and safety of these vaccines [10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…However, their safety profiles have been debated due to the growth of antivaccine movements, and there have been numerous controversies regarding their adverse events following immunization (AEFI). A systematic review investigating the perceived risk of vaccines in Europe [16] underlined the high number of safety concerns about HPV vaccination: in 29 articles analysed, the most common concerns were about the safety. On 26 May 2016, C. Gøtzsche and others of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, made a complaint over how the European Medicines Agency handled the safety assessment of HPV vaccines [17].…”

Consideraciones del CAVEI para la promoción de la adherencia a la vacunación

“…Se le estima como una de las herramientas más costo-efectiva para disminuir la tasa de las enfermedades inmunoprevenibles, lo que ha sido demostrado tras la implementación de campañas y programas de inmunización que han permitido reducir de manera significativa la morbilidad, discapacidad y mortalidad de la población a causa de la enfermedades prevenibles a través de la vacunación [1][2][3][4][5][6] . Sin embargo, en los últimos años han aumentado los cuestionamientos, la información falsa, el escepticismo, y la desconfianza en cuanto a la utilidad, seguridad y efectividad de las vacunas, convirtiéndose en un desafío global para todos los programas de inmunización, con una posible repercusión nacional [7][8][9][10] .…”