The growing skepticism of vaccinations: influencing factors and countermeasures to increase vaccination in Germany.

The growing skepticism of vaccinations: influencing factors and countermeasures to increase vaccination in Germany.

vaccination with parents: causes and solutions

vaccines are among the most effective preventive measures against infectious diseases. Thanks to a concerted global vaccination campaign, diseases such as smallpox were eradicated worldwide. Polio and measles have also become rare in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, increasing conspiracy theories have undermined trust in vaccination efforts, especially during the current Covid 19 pandemic.

A new study, published in the specialist magazine Advances in Pediatrics, examines remarkable risk factors in connection with vaccination retention, especially in influenza and human papilloma vaccines. However, claims related to the SARS-COV-2 virus are excluded.

children are under the care of their parents, which is why the parents' consent is crucial to vaccinate children. However, the trust of parents in vaccines is significantly impaired by spreading myths about harmful vaccination consequences. These conspiracy theories are often supported by the fact that vaccination prevention -tact diseases in many developed countries have become extremely rare and thus only make up a small part of childish morbidity and mortality.

The tragic sequence of these conspiracy theories is a growing distrust of the effectiveness and the benefits of vaccines among parents. In the United States, for example, up to a seventh of the preschoolers in preschool age do not receive their recommended vaccinations due to the negative attitude of the parents, while more than 25 % of the US parents delay the vaccination of their children. Children who are not vaccinated due to their parents' negative attitudes bear an increased risk of getting vaccination preventable diseases, which in turn can lead to outbreaks, as has been the case with measles and whooping coughs in recent years.

vaccination is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its strategic group of experts for immunization (legend) as a "delayed acceptance or rejection of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services". The attitudes of parents to vaccinations depend on time, place and the vaccines in question. The WHO calls three C’s in this context: convenience, accomplice and trust. The attitude to vaccination ranges from the absolute rejection of all vaccines to willingness to accept all recommended vaccines without any questions

There are various reasons why parents reject vaccinations for their children. This includes the fear of side effects, perception that vaccinations due to the currently low prevalence of vaccine prevalence -prevention diseases are not really necessary, doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines, individualistic thinking, moral concerns and opinions for or against vaccinations. Many parents believe that vaccines cause diseases instead of preventing. Some even claim that a child's immune system can be weakened by too many vaccines that alleged toxins are contained in vaccines and that the entire vaccination movement is promoted by unscrupulous manufacturers who are only interested in their profit margins. Over a third of the parents believe that children receive too many different vaccines within the first two years of life, while over 90% of the parents believe that a maximum of three vaccines should be administered on one day.

There is a clear connection between alternative medicine, nature -oriented life and vaccination with parents who reject the vaccination of their children. These parents, who use alternative medical systems up to four times more often, often believe that the disease on a vaccination preventionable illness is better for the child than vaccination. In this group of parents, such preferences are also expressed in terms of biological food and alternative school approaches.

Despite the official withdrawal of the influential article in 1998, which claimed a connection between autism spectrum disorders and the measles mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and the discrediting of the author Andrew Wakefield, millions of parents continue to believe in such a connection. These parents also claim that this connection not only applies to the MMR vaccine, but generally to vaccines.

An inherent mistake in trying to correct incorrect beliefs is to assume that the provision of information will correct this wrong belief. People accept or reject information based on their ideological acceptance of the source of information. In particular, the pharmaceutical industry, which is more interested in profits than in general benefits in drug development, has largely lost credibility among the audience. Your connections to research, medical and government communities are also considered a disadvantage. When people lose confidence in their government, this leads to a feeling of oppression. This in turn can lead to conspiracy theories that ultimately contribute to the vaccination retention of many parents.

The widespread distribution of vaccinations has also led to the fact that unsafe parents consider the recommendation to vaccinate their children as a form of social pressure. These parents then also increase the side effects of these vaccinations instead of seeing their advantages. This applies in particular to parents who maintain an intensive educational style and those who receive worrying vaccination information from family, friends or books instead of doctors. Consideration of vaccines are particularly highlighted in print media, radio, social media and on the Internet.

It is particularly worrying that social media and the Internet often provide misleading or inaccurate information. Unfortunately, this information is often posted next to correct information without the sources being checked. Researchers have put up the hypothesis that web -based interventions that offer factual vaccination information through social media could counteract the effects of misleading or inaccurate contributions.

needle phobia and painful local reactions on vaccinations also play a role in up to 10% of the parents' rejections, especially if they have experienced painful vaccinations in childhood themselves. This must be combated by calming down, pressure at the injection site, the use of local narcotics and distraction of the child during the vaccination process.

The best way to react to vaccination and rejection are various approaches, including personal meetings, to offer pedagogical information, for those who accept vaccinations, but would like a delayed schedule. However, this technology would not be effective if the rejection of religious beliefs, perceptions of vaccination -related dangers or vaccination is based. Historically speaking, social motives for vaccinations did not play a crucial role in changing the parent views, especially in companies that provide individual freedom of responsibility. A systematic review has shown that parents consider the concept that vaccinations "benefit others" as important, but ultimately based their decision is based on the perceived advantage for their own child.

Health experts still play an important role as trustworthy sources of information. In fact, discussions with doctors about vaccination concerns and the provision of factual and easy -to -understand information have a positive impact on the attitude of parents. An empathetic and communicative approach on the part of the medical specialist is therefore essential to the trust of parents in