- Canada’s eight-step vaccine safety program: Vaccine literacy.
MacDonald N Pickering L.
Canadian Paediatric Society; 2009Immunization to control serious infectious diseases has been one of the outstanding achievements of preventive health medicine. But hand in hand with the growing success of vaccine prevention of major scourges such as polio, measles, invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b disease and hepatitis B has come a rise in parental concerns regarding the safety of vaccines in a number of countries. Some parents are now so troubled by vaccine safety that they are choosing not to have their children immunized, sometimes with tragic results.
Erosion of public trust in vaccines seems to be occurring despite more than two decades of effort to educate the public about the risks of vaccine-preventable diseases and the benefits and excellent safety profiles of the recommended childhood vaccines. An expanded approach to ensure and, if necessary, restore public confidence in vaccines is needed. Health care providers who are involved in immunization delivery have a key role to play. The present Paediatric Infectious Disease Note outlines a strategy for helping health care providers increase public trust in vaccines.
- Canadian adult national immunization coverage (Adult NICS) survey 2006. (PDF: 1.1m)
Environics Research Group; 2006Provides a broad measure of coverage of six vaccinations (influenza, pneumococcal disease, hepatitis A and B, pertussis, varicella, and tetanus) among the adult Canadian population.
- Childhood vaccinations: Canada’s largest ever survey of Canadian parents on their attitudes toward childhood vaccinations. (PDF: 152k)
Ipsos Reid; 2001Summarizes the findings of Canada’s largest ever survey of Canadian parents on their attitudes toward childhood vaccinations.
- Consultation with Health Care Professionals and Influenza Immunization among Women in Contact with Young Children. (PDF: 115k)
Chambers Buxton, Koehoorn.
- Canadian Journal of Public Health 2010;101(1):15-19.
Canadian Public Health AssociationObjective: Primary health providers serve an important role in providing and promoting annual influenza immunization to high-risk groups and their close contacts. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether consultation with a medical professional increases the likelihood of receiving a flu shot among women who have given birth in the past five years and to determine whether this association differs by type of medical professional.
Conclusion: Consultation with family doctors was found to have the strongest association with annual flu shots among women in contact with young children, whereas consultation with alternative care providers was found to have an independent inverse association. Given the influenza-associated health risks for young children, medical professionals should promote immunization at the time of consultation for household contacts of young
children, including pregnant women.
- Do parents understand immunizations: a national telephone survey. (PDF: 152k)
Gellin Bruce G.,
Maibach Edward W.,
Marcuse Edgar K. /
National Network for Immunization Information Steering Committee
- Pediatrics 2000;106(5):1097-102.
American Academy of Pediatrics
» PubMed: 11061781Describes a study which conducted a telephone survey to assess parents’ understanding of vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccines, immunization practices, and policies.
- Immunization information on the Internet: Can you trust what you read? (PDF: 512k)
Canadian Coalition for Immunization Awareness & Promotion; 2008Helps readers judge whether a website is trustworthy.
- Immunization: Get the facts. (PDF: 389k)
CCIAP .
Canadian Coalition for Immunization Awareness & Promotion; 2010This pamphlet provides information and answers four common questions and misconceptions about vaccine safety, vaccine contents, and multiple injections.
- Mothers’ perceptions of childhood immunizations in First Nations communities of the Sioux Lookout zone. (PDF: 213k)
Tarrant Marie,
Gregory David.
- Canadian Journal of Public Health 2001;92(1):42-5.
Canadian Public Health Association
» PubMed: 11257989Describes the results of a study that examined First Nations mothers’ perceptions of childhood immunizations and the factors that influence uptake.
- Physician practices and attitudes regarding adult immunizations.
Szilagyi Peter G.,
Shone Laura P.,
Barth Richard,
Kouides Ruth W.,
Long Christine,
Humiston Sharon G.,
Jennings Jackie,
Bennett Nancy M.
- Preventive Medicine 2005;40(2):152-61.
Elsevier
» PubMed: 15533524Assesses immunization practices and attitudes of U.S. primary care physicians regarding adult influenza and pneumococcal immunizations.
- A postmodern Pandora's Box: Anti-vaccination misinformation on the Internet. (PDF: 285k)
Kata Anna.
- Vaccine 2009;28:1709-1716.
ElsevierThe Internet plays a large role in disseminating anti-vaccination information. This paper builds upon previous research by analyzing the arguments proffered on anti-vaccination websites, determining the extent of misinformation present, and examining discourses used to support vaccine objections. Arguments around the themes of safety and effectiveness, alternative medicine, civil liberties, conspiracy theories, and morality were found on the majority of websites analyzed; misinformation was also prevalent.
- University students immunized and not immunized for measles : a comparison of beliefs, attitudes, and perceived barriers and benefits. (PDF: 155k)
Kulig Judith C.,
Myers Cathy J.,
Hill Shirley A.,
Handley Cathy E.,
Lichtenburger Sue M.
- Canadian Journal of Public Health 2002;93(2):193-6.
Canadian Public Health Association
» PubMed: 12790493Compares students who were immunized or not immunized during the 1997 Simon Fraser University measles outbreak in British Columbia.