Important issues in organizing vaccination. Communication risks: unaddressed problems and new opportunities
Authors:   European medical center «UMMC-Health», Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, Platonova T.A. , Golubkova A.A. ,   Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Moscow, Russian Federation, Dyachenko E.V. ,   Ural State Medical University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, Smirnova S.S. ,   Yekaterinburg Research Institute of Viral Infections, Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation,   Ural State Medical University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
Published: December 2020

Objective. To evaluate the capacities of current online resources for monitoring of people adherence to vaccinations in order to manage communication risks in the organization of immunoprophylaxis. Materials and methods. To assess vaccination adherence among various groups of people residing in a large industrial city, we have surveyed 865 parents, 1325 healthcare professionals, 750 students, and 216 teachers of a medical university. We have additionally analyzed monitoring data for records in social media and online media on topics related to vaccination. In this study, we used epidemiological, sociological, and statistical methods. Results. We found that 79.3% of parents surveyed had positive attitude toward vaccination; 6.4% of them denied the need for vaccination; and 14.3% of parents had some doubts about effectiveness and safety of vaccines. The main source of information forming the attitude to vaccination among parents was the opinion of healthcare professionals. However, we found that 187 medical specialists (14.1%) (primarily among those with significant working experience) had a negative attitude to vaccination. Sixty-six medical students (8.8%) doubted the effectiveness of vaccines, but most of them were junior students. Among teachers, negative opinion about vaccination were found in 8.3% of questionnaires (18 respondents), mainly among teachers from theoretical departments. The assessment of monitoring data in the Internet related to vaccination demonstrated a significant increase in the number of people interested in and discussing immunoprophylaxis in social media, including a significant increase in the number of negative messages. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that the use of novel technologies and software tools enables the analysis of a large array of data to solve the problems associated with assessing people's attitude to vaccination and to develop timely management decisions. At the same time, we observed insufficient adherence to vaccination in various population groups, which does not allow healthcare professionals to overcome the barriers of communication risks. In order to form a positive attitude to vaccination among people and increase vaccination rates, it is necessary to update educational programs taking into account the target audience, including junior medical students, teachers of theoretical departments, and medical specialists with more than 20 years of experience. Key words: vaccination, vaccines, adherence monitoring, communication risks