Why do I need it? I am not at risk! Public perceptions towards the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine

Abstract

BackgroundOn the 30th September 2009, the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine was made available to adults and children aged 10 years and over, in Australia. Acceptance of a novel vaccine is influenced by perceptions of risk including risk of infection, risk of death or severe illness and risk of serious vaccine side-effects. We surveyed a sample of residents from Sydney, Australia to ascertain their risk perception, attitudes towards the pandemic and willingness to accept the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 influenza vaccine.MethodsWe sampled residents using a cross-sectional intercept design during the WHO Phase 6. Members of the public were approached in shopping and pedestrian malls to undertake the survey during September and October 2009. The survey measured perceived risk, seriousness of disease, recent behavioural changes, likely acceptance of the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 vaccine and issues relating to uptake and perceived safety.ResultsOf the 627 respondents, the majority felt that they had a "very low to low" (332/627, 52.9%) risk of acquiring H1N1. 24.5% (154/627) of respondents believed that the disease would "very seriously or extremely" affect their health. Nearly half (305/627, 48.6%) reported that in response to the "swine flu" outbreak they had undertaken one or more of the investigated behavioural changes. Overall, the self-reported likelihood of accepting vaccination against novel H1N1 was 54.7% (343/627).ConclusionsWhile, most participants did not believe they were at high risk of acquiring pandemic H1N1 2009, over half of the sample indicated that they would accept the vaccine. Participants who were vaccinated against the seasonal influenza were more likely to receive the H1N1 vaccine. Concerns about safety, the possibility of side effects and the vaccine development process need to be addressed.

Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) in Cote d'Ivoire: health-care providers’ knowledge of influenza and attitudes towards vaccination

“…In fact, the perception of disease severity and the risk of contracting pH1N1 are the main predictors for vaccination [19][20][21]. Previous vaccination against seasonal influenza was not found in this study to be a positive predictor for the willingness to be vaccinated with the pandemic vaccine, although this has been found in a series of other studies [36][37][38][39]. In subSaharan Africa and in Côte d'Ivoire in particular, vaccination against seasonal influenza is not common among health-care providers, although quality data on vaccination coverage for seasonal influenza are very limited.…”

Contemporary Perspectives on Risk Perceptions, Health-Protective Behaviors, and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases

“…Theoretical perspectives and empirical research increasingly are more comprehensive in defining what contributes to risk perceptions, situation awareness, and risk-reduction behaviors during an emerging infectious disease incident. Traditional psychological models of precaution adoption or health behavior change have been used to explain health-protective actions during an infectious disease threat, and these mostly have emphasized cognitive dimensions of risk perceptions (e.g., perceived susceptibility, perceived severity of the threat) [25,[33][34][35][36][37][38], including appraisals of the safety, effectiveness, and necessity of recommended actions [14,34,36,39]. The majority of these models consider responses in isolation of prior experiences and life circumstances that affect how individuals evaluate risk information [14,16].…”

Prevalence and Determinants of Flu Vaccination in a Working Population

“…Finally, it should be taken into account that in France, the acceptance of influenza vaccine has become among the lowest in the world [14,15].…”