Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

2009 H1N1 influenza A ("swine flu") vaccine has been offered to healthy UK children aged 6 months-5 years since December 2009, though around 50% of parents plan to reject the vaccine. This study examined whether such parents exhibit omission bias (preference for errors arising from inaction over errors arising from action). One-hundred and forty-two parents completed an online questionnaire in which they rated (a) probability of occurrence, (b) symptoms and (c) duration of a hypothetical disease and a hypothetical vaccine adverse event (VAE). Almost all attributes were rated significantly less favourably when relating to VAE than to disease (p<0.01 for 17 of 22 outcomes), despite the attributes being objectively identical. These data suggest that any vaccine is at a disadvantage in many parents' consciousness in comparison with the infection itself, and that minor safety concerns could have disproportionately detrimental effects on vaccine uptake. Behavioural science offers strategies to ameliorate the impact of this bias and these should be explored further.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.04.012

Type

Journal article

Journal

Vaccine

Publication Date

07/06/2010

Volume

28

Pages

4181 - 4185

Keywords

Child, Female, Humans, Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype, Influenza Vaccines, Influenza, Human, Male, Parents, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Refusal, United Kingdom, Vaccination