Kallas-Silva Lucas, Couto Marcia Thereza, Soares Maria Eduarda Muniz, Ferreira-Silva Sofia Natalia, Avelino-Silva Vivian I
Faculdade Israelita de Ciências da Saúde Albert Einstein, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Patient Educ Couns. 2025 Feb;131:108556. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2024.108556. Epub 2024 Nov 18.
Vaccine hesitancy is a relevant driver of backslides in immunization rates globally. Myths and misinformation are key contributors to vaccine hesitancy. We aimed to investigate associations between beliefs in popular vaccine myths and vaccine incompleteness.
In this survey, participants were asked questions on current vaccination status; barriers and motivations for vaccination; and beliefs regarding popular myths: the measles vaccine causes autism in children; acquiring the disease is preferable to facing vaccine side effects; and natural immunity developed from getting the disease is better than the immunity elicited by vaccination. We assessed the effect of failing to disagree with the myths on current vaccination status.
Of 4305 participants, 933 (22 %) were partially vaccinated and 61 (1 %) were fully unvaccinated; 403 (10 %) failed to disagree with the autism myth; 411 (10 %) failed to disagree with the side effects myth; and 904 (22 %) failed to disagree with the natural immunity myth. Failing to disagree with the myths was significantly associated with vaccine incompleteness.
Vaccine-related myths are associated with both partial and total vaccine incompleteness in Brazil.
Strategies to improve adherence to vaccination recommendations should include interventions to limit the spread or elucidate vaccine-related myths and misconceptions.
疫苗犹豫是全球免疫接种率倒退的一个相关驱动因素。谣言和错误信息是导致疫苗犹豫的关键因素。我们旨在调查对常见疫苗谣言的信念与疫苗接种不完整之间的关联。
在本次调查中，参与者被问及当前的疫苗接种状况；接种疫苗的障碍和动机；以及对常见谣言的看法：麻疹疫苗会导致儿童自闭症；感染疾病比面对疫苗副作用更可取；以及患病产生的自然免疫力比疫苗引发的免疫力更好。我们评估了对这些谣言不表示反对对当前疫苗接种状况的影响。
在4305名参与者中，933人（22%）部分接种了疫苗，61人（1%）完全未接种；403人（10%）对自闭症谣言不表示反对；411人（10%）对副作用谣言不表示反对；904人（22%）对自然免疫力谣言不表示反对。对这些谣言不表示反对与疫苗接种不完整显著相关。
在巴西，与疫苗相关的谣言与部分和完全疫苗接种不完整均有关联。
提高疫苗接种建议依从性的策略应包括采取干预措施，以限制疫苗相关谣言和误解的传播或对其进行阐释。
