Vaccine hesitancy
 | This article needs to be wikified. (March 2024) |
Vaccine hesitancy is the avoidance and dislike of the use of vaccines. Some people believe that vaccines cause more harm than help.[1][2][3][4] Others, especially parents of children with allergies, think that kids are getting more vaccines than they need.[5][6]
Anti-Vaccination activism
[change | change source]Anti-vaccination activism is about the disapproval of vaccination; in more recent years, anti-vaccinationists have been known as anti-vaxxers or anti-vax.[7] Vaccine hesitancy may be situation-specific, changing across time, place, and types of vaccines.[8]
Causes of vaccine hesitancy
[change | change source]It can be caused by a lack of scientifically-based knowledge and understanding of how vaccines are made, or how vaccines work. It can also be caused by other psychological factors, including fear of vaccination needles, or the doubt of public figures and politicians. Some anti-vaxxers believe that vaccines cause autism, which is not true.[9]
Parental influence
[change | change source]Vaccine hesitancy for infants is also related to the health beliefs of parents. Parents with higher education levels are more likely to have their children vaccinated.[source?] On the other hand, children from families with incorrect beliefs or inaccurate teachings, or who also believe that vaccines cause allergies, are likely to have their vaccinations delayed by their parents.[6]
Religious influence
[change | change source]Religion also plays an important part in anti-vaccination activism. Religious anti-vaccinationists may say vaccines are unnatural and as a result, unhealthy. Other opponents of vaccination question the need for vaccinating against rare diseases. This is ironic, because the lack of disease is a result of successful vaccination [5]
The contradictions of scientific evidence also has confused the public when making vaccine decisions. This is because the nature of scientific evidence encourages critical thinking and looking for facts. This can make the public struggle in believing existing vaccine science.[5]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health (2019). "Vaccine hesitancy: a generation at risk". The Lancet. 3 (5): 281. doi:10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30092-6. PMID 30981382. S2CID 115201206.
- ↑ Smith, MJ (November 2015). "Promoting Vaccine Confidence". Infectious Disease Clinics of North America (Review). 29 (4): 759–69. doi:10.1016/j.idc.2015.07.004. PMID 26337737.
- ↑ Larson, HJ; Jarrett, C; Eckersberger, E; Smith, DM; Paterson, P (April 2014). "Understanding vaccine hesitancy around vaccines and vaccination from a global perspective: a systematic review of published literature, 2007–2012". Vaccine. 32 (19): 2150–59. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.01.081. PMID 24598724.
- ↑ Cataldi, Jessica; O’Leary, Sean (2021). "Parental vaccine hesitancy: scope, causes, and potential responses". Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 34 (5): 519–526. doi:10.1097/QCO.0000000000000774. PMID 34524202. S2CID 237437018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jacobson, Robert M.; St. Sauver, Jennifer L.; Finney Rutten, Lila J. (November 2015). "Vaccine Hesitancy". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 90 (11): 1562–1568. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.09.006.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Zhang, Huiqiao; Chen, Liyuan; Huang, Zhongxuan; Li, Dongxue; Tao, Qian; Zhang, Fan (February 2023). "The effects of parent's health literacy and health beliefs on vaccine hesitancy". Vaccine. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.02.026. ISSN 0264-410X.
- ↑ Hinsliff, Gaby (16 November 2020). "It's the 'vaccine hesitant', not anti-vaxxers, who are troubling public health experts". TheGuardian.com.
- ↑ SAGE, Working Group (1 October 2014). "Report of the SAGE working group on vaccine hesitancy" (PDF). WHO.
- ↑ Gerber JS, Offit PA (February 2009). "Vaccines and autism: a tale of shifting hypotheses". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 48 (4): 456–61. doi:10.1086/596476. PMC 2908388. PMID 19128068.
