Survey results: what YOU told us!

In March 2014, we designed a survey to discover the attitudes and beliefs of people visiting our website in regards to vaccination. Being a website titled “Pro-Vax”, we assumed our audience would predominantly consist of people that are pro-vaccination, and our survey confirmed this, however it also revealed some of the worries even these people are having about vaccines and the policy surrounding vaccination in Australia. To clarify, most of the people answering our survey were our colleagues, medical students between the ages of 18-35, most of whom are strongly pro-vaccination.

Majority of respondents believed that vaccination should be compulsory for healthcare workers, with 77% answering “yes”. However, only 57% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement “children should be fully vaccinated to be able to enrol in primary school”. I find these numbers interesting, as vaccination in both these environments is considered important to protect public health; however there seems to be some underlying ethical reasoning as to why children should not have to be vaccinated. I hypothesise that it may be because health workers have chosen their occupation and have a social responsibility to protect the health of the community. School children however have accepted no responsibility, and have to go to school to acquire an education. Denying them schooling based on their vaccination status might be considered wrong, and a violation of their rights. This certainly is a topic of interest and I look forward to delving further into this difference of opinion.

72% of respondents believe that the MMR vaccine has no link to Autism Spectrum Disorder, and another 25% people saying they were unsure. Contradicting statements, controversial public opinion, and unclear publications over the past 17 years has created this high level of uncertainty. It began with Andrew Wakefield and colleague’s paper published in The Lancet in 1998, suggesting a causative link between the MMR vaccine and Autism. This paper caused a media circus and despite the publication since being retracted and Wakefield’s conflicts of interests being exposed, certain people still believe the theories put forward in the paper. Countless other studies researching the topic have found no evidence of a link, including this recent publication. The public can be reassured that the organisations regulating vaccine design and distribution (NCIRS in Australia) would not allow any vaccine to be given to the public if it was found to be harmful in any way.

87% of respondents agreed that the risk of severe side effects from a vaccine preventable disease (VPD) outweigh the risk of minor side effects of the vaccine for such diseases. Many VPDs can have serious consequences, which are much more common than vaccine injuries. Refer to our side effects page for greater detail on this topic.

Majority of people (88% in our survey) recognise that the massive decrease of infectious diseases seen in communities is due to a combination effect of both improved standards of living and vaccinations. Only 2% of respondents believe that vaccines have played no role in this revolution, and these people should probably be reminded of the eradication of smallpox and the near eradication of polio worldwide through vaccination. It is also important to recognise that despite the excellent living conditions in Australia today, vaccination is still important to prevent outbreaks of diseases in the community. This is demonstrated by occasional outbreaks in Australia, introduced by unvaccinated travellers.

Vaccine manufacture remains a controversial topic and is used as ammunition in anti-vaccination campaigns, as toxic substances such as thiomersal (containing ethyl mercury) is used in some vaccines as a preservative. Most vaccines (and all Australian childhood vaccines) have had thiomersal removed, and the components of all vaccines are freely available from the NCIRS (vaccine-components-fact-sheet.pdf), showing that there are no harmful substances in Australian vaccines. As this information is not widely known, many people remain uncertain or uninformed about vaccine manufacture, which leaves a gap in peoples knowledge for anti-vaccination campaigners to take advantage of. It may be a good strategy to have the NCIRS fact sheets available at GP surgeries for concerned people/parents.

A concerning statistic our survey revealed, was that 27% people believe that having multiple vaccination at once may “overwhelm” a child’s immune system, putting them at risk of harm. This is not at all true, however I found it a common misconception from talking to parents in the community also. The parents (who had vaccinated their children) said things like, “how can a baby’s body cope with trying to fight off so many diseases at once?” Such questions are derived from a poor understanding of the immune system, exposure to pathogens in the environment everyday, and the components of vaccines. After a brief explanation about vaccine design and the immune system, parents with concerns such as this were put at ease. This again could be something better communicated to parents having worries about vaccination, as it leaves a gap in knowledge that anti-vaccination campaigners can take advantage of.

Overall, our survey has demonstrated that despite having a community with majority pro-vaccination, many people still have concerns about particular aspects of vaccination such as components/manufacture, possible links to other diseases (autism), and how many vaccines are given at once to young children. Most of these concerns can easily be addressed through providing appropriate information through fact sheets and discussion with GPs and other health professionals. It is important to know what concerns people in the community have, and the best way to address these concerns if we hope to effectively advocate for vaccination and raise vaccine coverage in Australia.

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