Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India

Background: Despite evidence regarding the beneficial effects of vaccines, vaccination uptake has not been up to the mark across the globe in various sociocultural and sociodemographic groups. Logistics and workforce have been issues of concern to public health managers, but the latent issue of vacc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pallabi Dasgupta, Sharmistha Bhattacherjee, Abhijit Mukherjee, Samir Dasgupta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2018-01-01
Series:Indian Journal of Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2018;volume=62;issue=4;spage=253;epage=258;aulast=Dasgupta
_version_ 1818958336435945472
author Pallabi Dasgupta
Sharmistha Bhattacherjee
Abhijit Mukherjee
Samir Dasgupta
author_facet Pallabi Dasgupta
Sharmistha Bhattacherjee
Abhijit Mukherjee
Samir Dasgupta
author_sort Pallabi Dasgupta
collection DOAJ
description Background: Despite evidence regarding the beneficial effects of vaccines, vaccination uptake has not been up to the mark across the globe in various sociocultural and sociodemographic groups. Logistics and workforce have been issues of concern to public health managers, but the latent issue of vaccine hesitancy leading to vaccine delays and refusals has not been widely addressed particularly in the Indian context. Objectives: The present study was conducted to find out the proportion and factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slums of Siliguri, India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 194, 0–59 months' children residing in slums of Siliguri in 2016. Data were collected at the household with interviews of mothers/primary caregivers using a predesigned pretested interview schedule developed based on the validated version of vaccine hesitancy survey questionnaire originally developed by the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts working group on vaccine hesitancy. Associations were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Majority 161 (83%) of the families were vaccine-hesitant and only 33 (17%) were not hesitant. Nuclear families and mothers of lower educational status had significantly higher odds of vaccine hesitancy. Reluctance to vaccinate (26.1%) and to be unaware/having no reliable information (20.5%) were the major reasons cited for vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: Most of the families of the children were vaccine-hesitant in the area. Uniformity in schedules in different health facilities in slum areas, appropriate antenatal information, and counseling regarding childhood vaccinations, widespread awareness, and improving mothers' education can address the issue of vaccine hesitancy.
first_indexed 2024-12-20T11:24:08Z
format Article
id doaj.art-1c0168c23272476f86b94ffa36d28894
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0019-557X
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-20T11:24:08Z
publishDate 2018-01-01
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
record_format Article
series Indian Journal of Public Health
spelling doaj.art-1c0168c23272476f86b94ffa36d288942022-12-21T19:42:26ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Public Health0019-557X2018-01-0162425325810.4103/ijph.IJPH_397_17Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, IndiaPallabi DasguptaSharmistha BhattacherjeeAbhijit MukherjeeSamir DasguptaBackground: Despite evidence regarding the beneficial effects of vaccines, vaccination uptake has not been up to the mark across the globe in various sociocultural and sociodemographic groups. Logistics and workforce have been issues of concern to public health managers, but the latent issue of vaccine hesitancy leading to vaccine delays and refusals has not been widely addressed particularly in the Indian context. Objectives: The present study was conducted to find out the proportion and factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slums of Siliguri, India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 194, 0–59 months' children residing in slums of Siliguri in 2016. Data were collected at the household with interviews of mothers/primary caregivers using a predesigned pretested interview schedule developed based on the validated version of vaccine hesitancy survey questionnaire originally developed by the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts working group on vaccine hesitancy. Associations were analyzed using logistic regression. Results: Majority 161 (83%) of the families were vaccine-hesitant and only 33 (17%) were not hesitant. Nuclear families and mothers of lower educational status had significantly higher odds of vaccine hesitancy. Reluctance to vaccinate (26.1%) and to be unaware/having no reliable information (20.5%) were the major reasons cited for vaccine hesitancy. Conclusion: Most of the families of the children were vaccine-hesitant in the area. Uniformity in schedules in different health facilities in slum areas, appropriate antenatal information, and counseling regarding childhood vaccinations, widespread awareness, and improving mothers' education can address the issue of vaccine hesitancy.http://www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2018;volume=62;issue=4;spage=253;epage=258;aulast=DasguptaHouseholdIndiapublic healthslumsvaccination
spellingShingle Pallabi Dasgupta
Sharmistha Bhattacherjee
Abhijit Mukherjee
Samir Dasgupta
Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
Indian Journal of Public Health
Household
India
public health
slums
vaccination
title Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
title_full Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
title_fullStr Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
title_full_unstemmed Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
title_short Vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of Siliguri, India
title_sort vaccine hesitancy for childhood vaccinations in slum areas of siliguri india
topic Household
India
public health
slums
vaccination
url http://www.ijph.in/article.asp?issn=0019-557X;year=2018;volume=62;issue=4;spage=253;epage=258;aulast=Dasgupta
work_keys_str_mv AT pallabidasgupta vaccinehesitancyforchildhoodvaccinationsinslumareasofsiliguriindia
AT sharmisthabhattacherjee vaccinehesitancyforchildhoodvaccinationsinslumareasofsiliguriindia
AT abhijitmukherjee vaccinehesitancyforchildhoodvaccinationsinslumareasofsiliguriindia
AT samirdasgupta vaccinehesitancyforchildhoodvaccinationsinslumareasofsiliguriindia