THE AWARENESS

LEVEL ON THE
BENEFITS,
DANGERS AND
PREJUDICES OF
VACCINATION
 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

Unlike most drugs whose benefit is restricted to the individual who takes the drug,
prophylactic vaccines have the potential for far-reaching effects that encompass
health service utilization, general health and well-being, cognitive development and
economic productivity. Immunization has been controversial, since its introduction,
with opponents claiming it was not natural or contaminating. Despite this,
immunization has become one of the most far-reaching and triumphant of all health
interventions.
Andre et al. (2008) stated that infectious diseases still account for a large portion
of deaths, highlighting health inequalities largely cause by economic differences in
low-income countries. Vaccination can cut health care costs and reduce these
inequities. Vaccination can become a major solver in controlling different type of
diseases, elimination or eradication can save billions for communities and
countries. Vaccination helps economic growth everywhere because of lower
morbidity and mortality. The calculated investment annual return is between 12%
and 18%. Long healthy lives are now acknowledge as a prerequisite for wealth.
Despite its effectiveness in human health, there are also associated risks of
vaccines. Pain, swelling and redness at the injection site are common local
reactions following immunization. Sterile abscesses occasionally occur after the
injection of inactivated vaccines. Fever and irritability are also common systemic
reactions that maybe attended by giving acetaminophen.
Yet, Louise et al. (2015) stated that based on the data they have gathered, almost
six million children died globally before the age of five. Half of the number have
died from preventable diseases. However, some parents do not want their children
to take the vaccine although vaccines reduce morbidity and mortality. One of their
prejudices about vaccination is that their child might be susceptible in having
autism. Also, some parents do believe that their children doesn’t need to be
vaccinated because for over the years they haven’t seen or hears any cases of
diseases that their children have been vaccinated from.
 Vaccines have contributed enormous amount of help in the human race yet there
are still dangers associated with it as well as several prejudices about this medical
intervention though vaccines have saved more lives than antibiotics and surgeries.
This paper aims to determine the awareness level of students as well as the
parents about the benefits and dangers of vaccination together with determining
their prejudices about it. This will enlighten their minds and help them be equipped
with correct and precise knowledge about what really is vaccination.
 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This paper aims to find out the awareness level on the benefits, dangers and prejudices of
vaccination. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:
 What are the benefits of vaccination?
 What are the dangers associated with vaccination?
 What are the prejudices affiliated with vaccination?
 What is the level of awareness of the students and the parents regarding
vaccination?
 Is there a relationship between their awareness level and their prejudices
about it?
 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION
This research focuses on the awareness level of grade 11 STEM students as well as some
of the parents in Sampaguita about the benefits, dangers and prejudices about vaccination.
Sampaguita National High School and in Sampaguita Solana Cagayan will serve as the
place in which this research will be conducted. School year 2019-2020.
 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The generalization of this study would be a great contribution to the substantial
knowledge in relation to the awareness level of the students and parents about
vaccination. Essential results of this investigation could be highly significant and
beneficial specifically to the following:
PARENTS

-this study will help them have enough knowledge about the benefits given by vaccines
and its risks and most especially correct their misconceptions about it.

STUDENTS

-this study will provide correct and precise information about what really is vaccination
and will supplement information that they seems to lack about.

SCHOOL NURSE

-this study will give the school nurse first-hand information about the awareness level of
the students about vaccination as well as the parents so it’ll eventually give him/her an
idea to conduct a symposium regarding vaccination with the approval of course of the
school admin.

SCHOOL ADMIN

-through this study, with the help of the nurse in-charge he/she would be able to help in
correcting the prejudices of the students and the parents about vaccination and help them
understand why vaccines are essential in helping the humans immune system by using
this study as a basis of information.

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS

-the data that we have gathered about benefits and risks might help them figure out
something most especially on the prejudices part wherein maybe the data we have
gathered have increased so basically these healthcare professionals will eventually do
something to know why there is a sudden rise on the variables we have presented.

FUTURE RESEARCHERS

-this study will help them in making their own research paper and will guide them. The
information as well as the data we have gathered might contribute something to the
success of their research.
 CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATURE
Smith, L et al. (2017). A systematic review of factors affecting vaccine uptake in young
children. Vaccine, 35(45), 6059-6069.

Multiple beliefs and perceptions surrounds parents decision whether to vaccinate their
child or not, that crucial decision is being made by the parents most of the time. If uptake
or routine child vaccination is to increase then the evidences on the factors affecting
uptake must alarm the public health communications about vaccines.

Smith et al. (2017) investigated systematically the psychological, social and contextual
factors associated with uptake of routine vaccines in children. Studies included if they
reported the analysis pf the connection between psychological factors and uptake or
added parents self-reported reasons for or opposition to vaccination.

In the study made by Smith et al. (2017), results have shown that there is a strong
evidence between vaccination uptake and; not knowing vaccines to cause harmful effects;
general positive attitudes towards vaccination; positive vaccine recommendations; and
knowing fewer practical difficulties of vaccination. Nevertheless, there was a good
evidence for an affiliation between perceived severity of an illness and vaccination was
weak. Knowledge about the vaccine, social influences and trust in the healthcare
profession are the other factors associated with vaccination. Being equipped with enough
knowledge about vaccination is very important yet the influence of different sources of
information needs more research.

In addition, knowing and understanding the factors which consistently affecting the
parents decision to vaccinate their child is important in order to identify messages, which
the public health communications about routine child vaccine should be focusing.

Doherty, M et al. (2016). Vaccine impact: Benefits for human health. Vaccine, 34(52),
6707-6714.
 As Doherty et al. (2016) have stated, different from most drugs whose benefit is
confined to the individual who takes the drug, prophylactic vaccines have the potential
for wide ranging effects that enclose health service utilization, general health and well-
being, cognitive development and ultimately, economic productivity. The impact of
immunization are measured by evaluating effects directly on the vaccinated individual,
indirectly on unvaccinated community (herd community), the epidemiology of the
pathogen (such as changing circulating serotypes or prevention pf outbreak cycles) and
the additional benefits arising from improved health. Aside from the protection of the
individual, the extensive triumphant of immunization is dependent on achieving a level of
coverage adequate to interrupt transmission pf the pathogen. In evaluating the cost
effectiveness of vaccines, all these potential benefits needs to be accounted for.

Furthermore, in most countries where immunization programs have been highly

successful, the control of disease has meant that the benefits of immunization has become
less obvious. Once a well-known and fearsome disease appears to have vanished,
individuals including healthcare professionals, no longer view ongoing prevention with
the same sense of urgency. Reduced coverage is inescapably affiliated with revival in
disease, with epidemics potentially leading to unforgettable morbidity and loss of life.
Making sure of the continued success of immunization programs is the responsibility of
everyone: individuals, healthcare professionals, government and industry.

Larson, H et al. (2014). Understanding vaccine hesitancy around vaccines and

vaccination from a global perspective: A systematic review of published literature, 2007-
2012. Vaccine, 32 (19), 2105-2012.

Vaccine hesitancy have become one of the leading term and literature and discourse
on vaccine decision making and determinants of vaccine acceptance. It recognizes a
continuum between the domains of vaccine acceptance and vaccine refusal and
depolarizes former characterization of individuals and groups as either anti-vaccine or
pro-vaccine.

In connection, the primary aims of this systematic review are to the following; 1)
Identify research on vaccine hesitancy; 2) Identify determinants of vaccine hesitancy in
different settings including its context-specific causes, its expression and its impact; and
3) Inform the development of a model for assessing determinants of vaccine hesitancy in
different settings as pronounced by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts Working
Group (SAGE WG) for dealing with vaccine hesitancy.

In the study made by Larson et al. (2014), a broad search strategy, created to capture
multiple dimensions of public trust, confidence and hesitancy around vaccines, were
utilize across multiple databases. As well as, peer-reviewed studies were select for
inclusion if they focused on childhood vaccines (≤ 7 years of age), used multivariate
analyses, and were publish between January 2007 and November 2012.

The result of the study have shown variety of factors affiliated with vaccine hesitancy
but they did not allow for a complete classification and confirmation of their independent
and relative strength of influence. Determinants of vaccine hesitancy are complex and
context-specific—varying across time, place, and vaccines.

Song, G. (2014). Understanding public perceptions of benefits and risks of childhood

vaccinations in United Sates. Risk Analysis, 34(3), 541-555.

In the phase of growing public health concern accompanying the reemerging threat to
preventable diseases, this research aims mainly to explain variations in the perceived
benefits and risks of vaccinations among the public in the United States. As what Mary
Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky’s grid-group cultural theory of risks perception claims, the
analytical results based upon original data from a nationwide internet survey of 1,213
American adults conducted in 2010 suggest that individuals cultural preferences adds up
to the formation of their perceptions pertaining to vaccine benefits and risks at both
societal and individual levels. In connection with other factors suggested by previous risk
perception literature, such as perceived generality of diseases, trust, knowledge level and
demographic characteristics. Those with a strong hierarch orientation tend to visualize
greater benefits and lesser risks and come up with a relatively high ratio of benefit to risk
when compared to other cultural variety. In contrary, those with a strong fatalist tendency
are bound to emphasize risks and downplay benefits while coming up with a low
vaccination benefit-risk ratio. Place between hierarchs and fatalists, strong egalitarians
are prone to perceive greater benefits, smaller risks and a more positive benefit-risk ratio
than strong individuals.

Bondy, J et al. (2009). Identifying the determinants of childhood immunization in the

Philippines. Vaccine, 27(1), 169-175.

According to Bondy et al. (2009), childhood immunization is a fundamental method in

reducing morbidity and mortality yet only 69% of Filipino children in 2003 received all
required vaccinations, the data that came from the 2003 Philippines Demographic Health
Survey was utilize to determine the risk factors for non-and partial immunization. The
results of the multinomial logistic regression analysis stated that mothers who have less
education and who have not attended minimally-recommended four antenatal visits are
less likely to have fully immunized children. In order to increase immunization coverage
in the Philippines, knowledge transfer to mothers must improve.
 Ching, P et al. (2016). Investigation of measles outbreak in Cordillera, Northern
Philippines, 2013. Western Pacific Surveillance and Response Journal: WPSR, 7(3).

One of the leading causes of death among children worldwide , a highly infectious
viral illness which is known as measles, have led to measles outbreak in the Philippines
after its decrease in routine vaccination coverage from 2017 to 2011. A team investigated
a measles outbreak reported in Cordillera of the Philippines in May 2013.

The case data of measles with symptom onset February 2 to May 2013 were obtain
from official sources and verified on site. Age, sex, residential address, signs, symptoms
and vaccination status were included in the data. Active case findings were finish for
contacts of these cases. The living environments were also included in the investigation
while a survey with the cases and caregivers to understand their knowledge and attitudes
about measles.

Based on the study conducted by Ching et al. (2016), results have shown that there
were 50 measles cases identified with an age range from six months to 32 years(median:
16 years). Thirty-two were male (64%). Twenty (40%) were hospitalized with one death.
Thirty-two (64%) cases were laboratory confirmed, and thirty-six (72%) received a single
dose of measles vaccine. Most of the cases observed are from crowded living
environments (46/48, 98%) knew about measles, but there were prejudices about the
cause of measles and how it can be prevented and managed.

Overall, the measles outbreak occurred in an area with low immunization coverage. In
order to achieve 95% measles immunization coverage and strengthening routine
immunization strategies to address high-risk populations are the suggestions. Researchers
recommends health education campaigns to include components that address prejudices
about measles.

Larson, H et al. (2019). Vaccine confidence plummets in the Philippines following

dengue vaccine scare: why it matters to pandemic preparedness. Human Vaccines &
Immunotherapy, 15(3), 625-627.

Month of November year 2017, it was announced that the new dengue vaccine
(“Dengvaxia”) had risked for those who are not previously exposed to dengue. On the
other hand, some countries continued with adjusting guidance accordingly, the
Philippines reacted with outraged and political turmoil with naming and shaming on
government officials associated in purchasing the vaccine, as well as the scientists
involved in the vaccine trials and assessment. This resulted into broken public trust
around the dengue vaccine as well as heightened anxiety around vaccines in general.
 The Vaccine Confidence Project measured the impact of this crisis, differentiating the
level of confidence levels in 2015, before the incident, with levels in 2018. The findings
reflect a big drop in vaccine confidence from 93% “strongly agreeing” that vaccines are
important in 2015 to 32% in 2018. There was also a drop in confidence in those strongly
agreeing that vaccines are safe from 82% in 2015 to only 21% in 2018; similarly
confidence in the effectiveness dropped from 82% to 22%. This article highlights the
importance of routinely identifying laps or breakdowns in public confidence in order to
rebuild trust, before pandemic threat, when societal and political cooperation will be the
key to effective response.
 KYLA VALINO
ROSELYN CABUROG
MARINEL DEUNDO
ABIGAIL YUSON
CAROL ELCHICO
CLARIZZE ESMABE