[Gynaecologists' attitudes and practices towards HPV vaccination: a quantitative-qualitative study in Rhône-Alpes]

Bibliometric analysis of global scientific literature on vaccine hesitancy in peer-reviewed journals (1990-2019)

BACKGROUND

Vaccine hesitancy is a growing threat to national and global health security. The current study was undertaken to provide insights into the global scientific literature on vaccine hesitancy in peer-reviewed journals.

METHOD

The current study was a descriptive bibliometric study. A validated search strategy on vaccine hesitancy was implemented using SciVerse Scopus. Bibliometric indicators such as (1) annual growth of publications, (2) key players, (3) research themes, (4) pathogens/diseases encountered, (5) top-cited documents, and (6) annual growth of publications stratified by world region and by age category were presented. The study period was from 1990 to 2019.

RESULTS

Search strategy found 2791 documents. The h-index of the retrieved literature was 89. The leading journal was Vaccine (369; 13.2%%) followed by Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics (129; 4.6%). Authors from the USA led with 1125 (40.3%) followed by authors from Italy (234; 8.4%) and the UK (204; 7.3%). The US CDC led with 140 (5.0%) documents followed by Emory University (USA) (81, 2.9%). The list of active authors included six from the USA while the remaining were from France, Australia, and Canada. Research themes in the retrieved literature focused on influenza, human papillomavirus, and the role of parents in immunization of their children. The region of the Americas and the European region had the greatest share of publications and showed steep growth of publications lately. Vaccine hesitancy research on adolescents was most noticed after 2007 while that on children was present all the time but escalated lately. Titles/abstracts analysis indicated that 621(22.3%) documents focused on influenza, 392 (14.0%) focused on Human papillomavirus, and 292 (10.5%) focused on measles. The top-cited documents in literature published after 2015 focused on the definition and strategies to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

CONCLUSION

The last decade witnessed a noticeable increase in the number of publications. Influenza vaccine and parental concerns about the human papillomavirus vaccine were the main focus of the retrieved literature. Information on vaccine hesitancy needs to be collected from all countries to build a better coalition against the anti-vaccination groups. Re-building trust in vaccines requires targeting parents by providing adequate information on the vaccines.

Human Papillomavirus Infection and Vaccination: Knowledge, Attitude and Perception among Undergraduate Men and Women Healthcare University Students in Switzerland

Background: Human Papillomavirus is a common sexually transmitted infection, representing the main cause of genital warts and cervical cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate basic knowledge and beliefs regarding HPV infection and HPV vaccine among undergraduate healthcare men and women students, as well as their attitudes towards HPV vaccine. Methods: Undergraduate women and men (nursing and midwifery curses) attending three Schools of Health Sciences located in Switzerland. A total of 427 women and 223 men have completed the web questionnaire, which included questions on their socio-demographic background and about basic knowledge and attitudes toward the HPV infection and vaccination. Results: Women undergraduate students have a better knowledge of HPV infection than their men counterparts, although there was a significant gap in knowledge of the disease’s mode of transmission and prevention. Among women, 72.6% of respondents reported having received at least one dose of HPV vaccines versus 31.4% for men respondents. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed a poor understanding among undergraduate healthcare men and women students about the HPV infection, its mode of transmission and its prevention. Our findings highlight the need to improve education on HPV for undergraduate healthcare students in order to increase the awareness of the disease.

HPV vaccination in a context of public mistrust and uncertainty: a systematic literature review of determinants of HPV vaccine hesitancy in Europe

Europe is increasingly described as the region in the world with the least confidence in vaccination, and particularly in the safety of vaccines. The aim of this systematic literature review was to gather and summarise all peer-reviewed and grey literature published about determinants of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine hesitancy in Europe. Ten thematic categories were identified across the 103 articles which were included in the review. Participants from European studies most commonly reported issues with the quantity and quality of information available about HPV vaccination; followed by concerns about potential side effects of the vaccine; and mistrust of health authorities, healthcare workers, and new vaccines. Comparative analyses indicated that confidence determinants differed by country and population groups. This evidence supports the need to develop context-specific interventions to improve confidence in HPV vaccination and design community engagement strategies aiming to build public trust.