Ates et al.
Attitudes towards the tick-borne encephalitis vaccine among children’s guardians: A cross-sectional survey study in Poland. Vaccines. 2024; 12(8):918. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12080918
Poland belongs to the European countries where the TBE virus circulates. A total of 4,690 cases have been reported between 2000 and 2019, and an increase has been observed during the last four years (2020-2023). However, the vaccination rate remains low in Poland.
A cross-sectional study has been carried out to learn more about attitudes, perceptions and knowledge about TBE and TBE vaccine among children’s guardians. Parents and guardians living in northeastern Poland (TBE endemic region) responded to a questionnaire with 17 questions, and 3030 surveys were analyzed.
The willingness to vaccine children against TBE was relatively low among guardians (28.87%). Only about 1% of the Polish population was vaccinated against TBE in 2020. Sociodemographic factors found that neither gender nor educational background were statistically significant predictors of vaccination willingness. Young parents were more likely to vaccinate than older parents. This trend was also seen in larger cities compared to smaller cities.
A relatively small portion of 27.62% of parents preferred natural immunity methods over vaccination. However, 82.39% were willing to vaccinate their kids against TBE. Despite scientific evidence, there are concerns about autism risks associated with vaccination in general (27.10%).
The authors concluded that there is a critical need for targeted education initiatives to increase vaccine confidence and address knowledge gaps and dispel misinformation. This will improve the coverage of the vaccine (TBE).