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Aim Scepticism and negative attitudes toward vaccination are growing, generating the risk of decreasing vaccination coverage, with potential impact on the individual and community. Our aim was to obtain the first reliable national...
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Aim Scepticism and negative attitudes toward vaccination are growing, generating the risk of decreasing vaccination coverage, with potential impact on the individual and community. Our aim was to obtain the first reliable national assessment of attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination among Slovenia's general population and explore their socio-demographic determinants. Subject and methods A cross-sectional survey was performed in a random sample of the general population. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify factors independently associated with positive attitudes toward the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination. Results In our survey, 8590 individuals aged 25-74 years participated; the overall response rate was 55%. Approximately two-thirds of participants expressed positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination (64.9% and 67.6%, respectively). However, almost one-third (31.0%) of them expressed a fear of vaccination because of side effects. Two predictors for positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination were higher social class and participation in preventive examinations. Factors associated with lower odds for a positive attitude toward the safety of vaccination included female sex, minors in the household, and average assessment of health status. Conclusion Our study contributed an important insight into the Slovenian attitude toward vaccination among the general population. It showed that there are some socio-demographic determinants that are related to attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination. There is a need to address public concerns regarding vaccination in order to increase and maintain optimal coverage rates by implementing comprehensive communication strategies.
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Viral structural proteins share a common nature of homotypic interactions that drive viral capsid formation. This natural process has been mimicked in vitro through recombinant technology to generate various virus-like particles (...
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Viral structural proteins share a common nature of homotypic interactions that drive viral capsid formation. This natural process has been mimicked in vitro through recombinant technology to generate various virus-like particles (VLPs) and small subviral particles that exhibit similar structural and antigenic properties of their authentic viruses. Therefore, such self-assembled, polyvalent, and highly immunogenic VLPs and small subviral particles are excellent subunit vaccines against individual viruses, such as the VLP vaccines against the hepatitis B virus, human papilloma virus, and hepatitis E virus, which have already been in the markets. In addition, various antigens and epitopes can be fused with VLPs, small subviral particles, or protein polymers, forming chimeric mono-, bi-, or trivalent vaccines. Owing to their easy-production, un-infectiousness, and polyvalence, the recombinant, chimeric vaccines offer a new approach for development of safe, low-cost, and high efficient subunit vaccines against a single or more pathogens or diseases. While the first VLP-based combination vaccine against malaria has been approved for human use, many others are under development with promising future, which are summarized in this commentary.
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Vaccination: history and sociology, in the light of immunology Vaccinating is a medical act of prevention of infectious diseases that has been proven for more than two centuries to be effective, whose symbol is the eradication of ...
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Vaccination: history and sociology, in the light of immunology Vaccinating is a medical act of prevention of infectious diseases that has been proven for more than two centuries to be effective, whose symbol is the eradication of smallpox, which was its first target. To understand the social issues involved in this practice, we must call on historians to identify the different actors and their relationships (public authorities, health professionals, drug manufacturers), to draw the consequences of accidents that may have marked, on epidemiologists to define the notion of maximum coverage threshold, those of individual immunity and group or gregarious immunity, to sociologists to understand their acceptability, mistrust or refusal by the population and to immunologists who have progressively build the conceptual support to better understand the physiology of the immune response involved in this initially empirical practice, and thereby improve its performance.
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Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are a historical key target of influenza vaccination programs. For the 2021–2022 season, WHO considered the coadministration of a flu and a COVID-19 vaccine as acceptable and recommended it t...
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Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are a historical key target of influenza vaccination programs. For the 2021–2022 season, WHO considered the coadministration of a flu and a COVID-19 vaccine as acceptable and recommended it to allow for higher uptake of both vaccines. The aim of this study was to investigate demographic and occupational features of vaccinated HCWs, reasons behind flu vaccine acceptance and a possible effect of the coadministration of a COVID-19 vaccine, in order to potentially draw general conclusions on HCWs’ attitude towards flu vaccination and inform further strategies for consistent improvement of vaccine acceptance. Methods: a promotional and educational campaign, a gaming strategy, and vaccination delivery through both a large central hub and on-site ambulatories, were the implemented strategies. In the central hub, the flu/COVID-19 vaccine coadministration was offered. Statistical descriptive analysis, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and logistic regression models were performed. Results: 2381 HCWs received the flu vaccine, prompting a vaccination coverage rate (VCR) of 52.0% versus 43.1% in the 2020–2021 campaign. Furthermore, 50.6% vaccinated HCWs belonged to the 18–39 years-old age group. The most expressed reasons for vaccine uptake were “Vaccination is the most effective strategy of prevention” (n = 1928, 81.0%), “As HCW it’s my duty to get vaccinated to protect my patients” (n = 766, 32.2%), and the group of COVID-19-related reasons (n = 586, 24.6%). In addition, 23.3% HCWs received the flu vaccine in the current campaign but not in the previous one (newly vaccinated) and the flu/COVID-19 vaccine coadministration was more frequent in this group. A total of 51.0% HCWs were hesitant towards the coadministration, while residents and nurses showed the highest propensity to receive it. Conclusions: in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fondazione’s influenza VCR continued to increase, with the greatest participation among HCWs aged 18–39 years. A potential propelling role of the COVID-19 vaccine coadministration was highlighted.
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Despite the large number of vaccines, this review asks the question: why do we not have vaccines for all infectious diseases? The first of this series discussed basics of vaccine immunology, new approaches, and outlined some of th...
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Despite the large number of vaccines, this review asks the question: why do we not have vaccines for all infectious diseases? The first of this series discussed basics of vaccine immunology, new approaches, and outlined some of the difficulties and approaches that are being taken for antiviral vaccines. The second part of the series focuses on antibacterial vaccines and the approaches that are being taken to develop vaccines for some of the most important bacteria.
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The embrace of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine conspiracies has been linked to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories and perceived vaccine effe...
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The embrace of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine conspiracies has been linked to vaccine hesitancy. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories and perceived vaccine effectiveness. The study utilized a longitudinal follow-up study in which adults in Chile completed surveys in December 2020 (T1) and May 2021 (T2). The psychometric properties of the five-item instrument on conspiracy theories for the COVID-19 vaccine were evaluated using data from T1 (n = 578). A confirmatory one-factor structure with suitable indicators of reliability was found. The longitudinal analysis (n = 292) revealed that conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine in T1 were associated with lower beliefs in its effectiveness in T2. However, no significant association was found between beliefs in effectiveness in T1 and conspiracy theories in T2. The study suggests that beliefs in conspiracy theories may temporally precede beliefs in vaccine effectiveness for COVID-19. The results have implications for strategies to address vaccine conspiracy beliefs and their implementation at the public policy level.
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The study aimed to determine the reasons for polio vaccine hesitancy among parents of persistently missed children (PMCs) in the high-risk areas of Karachi, Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey of parents of PMCs was conducted in Ap...
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The study aimed to determine the reasons for polio vaccine hesitancy among parents of persistently missed children (PMCs) in the high-risk areas of Karachi, Pakistan. A cross-sectional survey of parents of PMCs was conducted in April 2019 in 34 high-risk union councils of Karachi. PMCs were randomly selected from the polio program database, and further information was collected on a questionnaire by trained staff using face-to-face interviews with parents of PMCs. A total of 325 participants were included in the study. Among refusals, 112 (37.3%) had no trust in vaccine quality, followed by 45 (15.0%) who were afraid of side effects, 42 (14.0%) whose elders did not allow polio vaccination, 39 (13.0%) who refused due to the influence of negative social media videos, and 20 (6.7%) who had no trust in polio teams. We concluded that misconception is still a big challenge, and the program needs to strive for community acceptance. Low levels of trust in vaccines and teams as well as fear of OPV side effects were among the main reason for vaccine hesitancy. The participant communities recommended involving famous medical doctors, religious influencers, and TV or sports stars to enhance knowledge and acceptance of polio vaccination.
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