Factors influencing pediatric vaccine acceptance among parents: a cross-sectional study

Background: Vaccines drastically reduce disease burden, eliminate and even eradicate highly infectious illnesses. The efficacy however highly depends on herd immunity. This paper aims to identify the prevalence and causes of vaccine hesitancy and attempts to find solutions to maintain herd immunity. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital, obtaining data from parents visiting the pediatric clinics. Data collected including demographic information, the core vaccine hesitancy survey and data to elucidate parental attitude towards vaccination. Analysis was done with a Chi square test with level of significance at 0.05. Results: Mothers with a lesser education and parents who were unemployed or were unskilled workers had increased vaccine hesitancy. While most agreed that vaccines protected children, 3.8% were reluctant to vaccinate and 6.9% had not vaccinated their child. 51.3% stopped after the MR vaccine and 20.5% after the second DPT booster. The most common reason was a poor past experience or adverse reaction. 10.26% did not know where to obtain reliable information and 7.7% were concerned about side effects. A majority agreed that vaccines are important, however, 3.5% continued to remain hesitant to vaccinate their children. Conclusions: Vaccine hesitancy has reasons specific to each population group. It is imperative that strategies to improve vaccination focus on factors identified and alleviate the concerns outlined. A systemic multi-faceted approach at the national, state, district and school level along with creative means to ensure comprehensive education during each well child and vaccine visit can aid minimize hesitancy.