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PROVO – Deborah Johnson grew up hearing stories about relatives and ancestors who suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases.
A great-uncle half paralyzed by polio. A mom and a dad who have already had measles and mumps.
But when Johnson, a graduate student at Brigham Young University, heard students talking about polio in a classroom, she realized that most of them had never really heard about personal stories about people who had contracted an infectious disease.
Many of those who have children today have not heard such stories in their childhood because their parents grew up with the age of the vaccines, says Johnson.
According to a study by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Provo, where BYU is located, ranks sixth among under-vaccinated children's gardens. Salt Lake City ranks fifth.
Measles outbreaks have affected 19 states this year, prompting a medical director of Intermountain Healthcare to warn Utahns that we have "just one flight" after our own outbreak. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least 981 cases of measles were confirmed this year in the United States. And several people, including children, have had mumps in Utah this year.
The day his class talked about polio, Johnson said, "The teacher and I looked at each other and said, 'What if we asked the kids to come out and tell stories of themselves?' ? & # 39; "
The idea became an additional assignment of credits and turned into a study published in May in the scholarly journal Vaccines. Johnson was the principal author of the study.
Approximately 570 students participated in the winter of 2018. Half were asked to interview a person who had contracted a preventable disease by vaccination and the other half – the control group – interview subjects with autoimmune diseases.
Of the participants, 83 said they were "hesitant about the vaccine", which meant they were on the vaccine barrier. Some of the students were also enrolled in courses on vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, while others were enrolled in courses not dealing with vaccines.
During the study, students found people to interview in their families and communities. Most students in the group who interviewed people with vaccine-preventable diseases spoke to those who had shingles, a rash that may occur in people with chickenpox.
"Even talking to people with shingles was enough to convince most people," said Johnson.
According to Johnson, the main factors that convinced students to become pro-vaccine were pain and physical limitations, such as the inability to work.
A student who interviewed a woman with shingles said, "The pain was such that she eventually went to a pain treatment center where they gave her steroid injections. The pain medication did not even touch her, even the heaviest. For months, she could not leave home, "researchers wrote.
The student further stated, "The project has shown how much of a lack of immunization is about accepting the pain and suffering that accompanies the disease," the study said.
The researchers found that nearly 70% of students who were hesitant about the vaccine – including those who had not taken a course on vaccines – became pro-vaccine after questioning a person who had suffered from a preventable disease by vaccination.
Taking into account the students in the control group, 75% of students became more positive about vaccines and 50% became pro-vaccines.
Johnson believes these results are important because, at a time when infectious diseases are resuming our dialogue, "when you have vulnerable people who can not get vaccinated, it's up to those who can protect them." .. And I think a lot we see dangers in front of us and these are the dangers we react to. "
The current generation of new parents have heard of autism and toxins, Johnson said. "But they did not see measles, they did not see mumps, they do not know people like my great-great-grandmother whose husband was sterile because he has mumps in the 20. And so, they are more willing to react to those dangers than they see with the vaccine than to be aware of the dangers lurking in them. "
"Vaccines are the victims of their own success," said Brian Poole, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular biology at BYU University, in a press release. "They are so effective that most people have no experience of vaccine-preventable diseases, we need to teach people the dangers of these diseases."
If your goal is to affect people's decisions about vaccines, this process works much better than trying to fight anti-vaccine information.
-Brian Poole, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology at BYU
Johnson believes that society's previous fear of diseases such as polio and mumps has been transferred to less troubling issues.
"A lot of innocent kids are suffering because of that, kids," said Johnson.
She said it's important to note that the results should not help convince people who are already anti-vaccination – but could help those who are on the fence. For many people, barriers to vaccination also include cost and other restrictions.
"If your goal is to influence people's decisions about vaccines, this process works better than trying to fight against anti-vaccine information … It shows people that these diseases are really serious, with painful and financial costs, and that people have to take them seriously, "Poole said in the statement.
Johnson pointed out that the method used in the study will not convert everyone into pro-vaccine.
"This is not the cure, it works for this population right now," she said.
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