Vaccine advertising: preach to the converted or to the unaware?

Can social media encourage diabetes self-screenings? A randomized controlled trial with Indonesian Facebook users

Nudging individuals without obvious symptoms of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to undergo a health screening remains a challenge, especially in middle-income countries, where NCD awareness is low but the incidence is high. We assess whether an awareness campaign implemented on Facebook can encourage individuals in Indonesia to undergo an online diabetes self-screening. We use Facebook's advertisement function to randomly distribute graphical ads related to the risk and consequences of diabetes. Depending on their risk score, participants receive a recommendation to undergo a professional screening. We were able to reach almost 300,000 individuals in only three weeks. More than 1400 individuals completed the screening, inducing costs of about US$0.75 per person. The two ads labeled "diabetes consequences" and "shock" outperform all other ads. A follow-up survey shows that many high-risk respondents have scheduled a professional screening. A cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that our campaign can diagnose an additional person with diabetes for about US$9.

Influenza Vaccine Hesitancy: Scope, Influencing Factors, and Strategic Interventions

Influenza vaccination rates in children are suboptimal. One underlying reason is influenza vaccine hesitancy. Tools such as the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines survey and the Vaccine Hesitancy Scale can be used to measure influenza vaccine hesitancy. The adapted Increasing Vaccination Model from Brewer and colleagues can help identify factors that influence influenza vaccine hesitancy, motivation, and uptake. Several strategies can be used to address influenza vaccine hesitancy, which we discuss further in this review.

Changing Perspectives on Pediatric Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination among Dental Students and Residents Reveals Recent Increase in Vaccine Hesitancy

This study was a retrospective analysis of previously collected anonymous survey data regarding vaccine awareness, beliefs, and knowledge among dental (DMD) students and postgraduate (PG) residents. The protocol for this study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) as exempt. A total of 341 responses were collected from n = 293 DMD students and n = 48 PG residents. Although most respondents agreed that vaccines were necessary, safe, and effective, over the past 4 years (2017-2020) a growing percentage of respondents disagreed. In addition, although most respondents disagreed that there are too many required vaccines, vaccines can make you sick, or are dangerous, a growing percentage of respondents now agreed with these statements. Finally, although most respondents were aware of the HPV vaccine, recently a growing percentage of both students and residents reported they had insufficient information about this vaccine. These results provide novel insights into recent changes in attitudes and beliefs regarding vaccination among this population. Moreover, analysis of these shifts in attitudes and knowledge about HPV vaccination suggests that curricular integration of vaccine research and hesitancy may be needed to answer these questions in a supportive learning environment that fosters critical thinking and evidence-based practice and decision making.