A new survey found that parents in Spain were the most supportive of vaccinations when compared with their counterparts in 4 other European countries.
A new survey found that parents in Spain were the most supportive of vaccinations when compared with their counterparts in 4 other European countries.
The survey results are part of a study that was due to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases 2020 (ECCMID). The in-person meeting was cancelled this year due the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; however, conference organizers have decided to publish the meeting abstracts.
The survey, Vaccinoscopie Europe, was a web-based survey that disseminated to 1500 parents from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom in 2019. Survey responses were collected from 300 parents of children aged 0 to 35 months in each country.
As vaccine hesitancy is a growing problem, a team of French investigators analysed the data to compare how parents in each country value vaccination. The team found that parents in Spain were the most pro-vaccination (94%) and parents in Frank were the least pro-vaccination (73%). In the middle were Germany (88%), Italy (87%), and the United Kingdom (86%).
According to the authors of the abstract, 1 in every 30 parents in the UK and Germany were opposed to all vaccinations compared with 1% in the other countries. Additionally, in all of the countries surveyed, more than 90% of parents had favourable opinions towards mandatory vaccinations “for at least certain vaccines,” which the authors note consist of vaccines for 1 of the following diseases: “: tetanus; whooping cough; measles; rubella; pneumococcal meningitis; meningococcal meningitis B; meningococcal meningitis C; Haemophilus influenzae type b; poliomyelitis; diphtheria; mumps; hepatitis B; rotavirus gastroenteritis; chicken pox.”
In Germany and the UK, the highest proportion of parents against compulsory vaccination were observed with 7.8% in Germany and 7.4% in the UK. Rates in other countries were 4% for France, 1% for Italy, and 0.8% for Spain.
The investigators also looked at the parent’s opinions on vaccine knowledge. They found that only 77% of French parents felt well informed, which 90-94% of parents in other countries felt well informed. French parents were also found to have read less online information about vaccines at 58% compared with 70% for Germany, 81% for the UK; 71% for Italy.
The authors wrote that trust in health authorities was the highest in Spain (88%) and the lowest in France (68%). The investigators found that most parents received information regarding vaccinations from a health care provider, but their second source of information varied from the internet, health authority websites, and friends and family.
“Parents having a favourable opinion on vaccination seemed to be linked with a better perceived vaccination knowledge. Local characteristics should be taken into account to increase confidence into vaccination. Evaluation should be harmonised at a European level, allowing countries to share best practice strategies for public health,” the authors concluded.
The abstract,
