Childhood Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Comparison Between Türkiye and the World

Year 2024, , 387 - 395, 18.11.2024

Ayça Kömürlüoğlu Tan , S. Songül Yalçın

https://doi.org/10.12956/tchd.1547693

Abstract

Vaccination is the cheapest, safest, and most successful public health approach to protect children's health and prevent infectious diseases. High vaccination rates ensure community immunity and prevent epidemics. A drop in immunization rates below 95% can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly measles, as well as increased morbidity and mortality. With the recent emergence of vaccine hesitancy (VH) and vaccine refusal (VR) concepts, especially in developed countries, the number of unvaccinated children is increasing both in our country and around the world. Vaccine hesitancy stems from many personal and environmental reasons, as well as sociocultural, environmental, economic, and political reasons. Lack of information about vaccines, fear of side effects, concerns about vaccine efficacy and safety, the idea that vaccines are harmful, anti-vaccine publications on the internet and social media, belief in natural immunity, and religious reasons are seen as the most common reasons for VH and VR in different studies. Raising awareness in society about the importance and necessity of vaccination, identifying the factors that lead to VH, and producing solutions are among the primary measures to be taken. Healthcare personnel play a very important role in the fight against vaccine hesitancy. It is important to establish good, effective, and trusting communication with vaccine-hesitant parents. Recently, in addition to vaccine refusal cases, the number of families refusing vitamin K and heel blood sampling has been increasing. Vaccine refusal, and refusal of health care services will increase neonatal and childhood morbidity and mortality. Legal measures should be taken to protect the best interests of the child. Valid and reliable scales that evaluate parents' vaccine acceptance and hesitancy will be a source of information in the fight against vaccine hesitancy.

Keywords

Vaccine hesitancy, vaccine refusal, vaccination, vaccine, vitamin K refusal

Çocukluk Çağı Aşıları ve Aşı Tereddütü: Türkiye ve Dünya’nın Karşılaştırması

Abstract

Aşılama, çocuk sağlığını korumak ve bulaşıcı hastalıkları önlemek için en ucuz, en güvenli ve en başarılı halk sağlığı yaklaşımıdır. Yüksek aşılama oranları sayesinde toplum bağışıklığı sağlanır ve salgınlar önlenir. Bağışıklama oranlarında %95'in altına düşmesi, özellikle kızamık olmak üzere aşı ile önlenebilir hastalıkların salgınlarına ve artan morbidite ve mortaliteye yol açabilir. Son zamanlarda özellikle gelişmiş ülkelerde aşı tereddüdü ve aşı reddi kavramlarının ortaya çıkmasıyla birlikte, hem ülkemizde hem de dünya çapında aşılanmamış çocuk sayısı artmaktadır. Aşı tereddüdü, birçok kişisel ve çevresel nedenin yanı sıra sosyokültürel, toplumsal, ekonomik ve politik nedenlerden kaynaklanmaktadır. Aşılar hakkında bilgi eksikliği, yan etki korkusu, aşı etkinliği ve güvenliğiyle ilgili endişeler, aşıların zararlı olduğu düşüncesi, internette ve sosyal medyadaki aşı karşıtı yayınlar, doğal bağışıklığa inanç ve dini nedenler, farklı çalışmalarda aşı tereddütü ve aşı reddinin en yaygın nedenleri olarak görülmektedir. Toplumda aşılamanın önemi ve gerekliliği konusunda farkındalık yaratmak, aşı tereddütüne yol açan faktörleri belirlemek ve çözümler üretmek alınacak öncelikli önlemler arasındadır. Sağlık personeli aşı tereddüdüyle mücadelede çok önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Aşı tereddüdü olan ebeveynlerle iyi, etkili ve güvenilir bir iletişim kurmak önemlidir. Son dönemde aşı redlerine ek olarak K vitamini uygulamasını, topuk kanı alımasını reddeden ailelerin sayısı da giderek artmaktadır. Aşı reddi ve sağlık hizmetlerinin reddi, yenidoğan ve çocukluk çağı morbidite ve mortalitesini artıracaktır. Çocuğun yüksek yararını gözetecek şekilde yasal önlemler alınması elzemdir. Ebeveynlerin aşı kabulünü ve tereddüdünü değerlendiren geçerli ve güvenilir ölçekler aşı tereddüdüyle mücadelede bilgi kaynağı olacaktır.

Keywords

Aşı tereddütü, aşı reddi, aşılama, aşı, K vitamini reddi

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