Confidence in a vaccine is low in Europe, increasing the risk of the epidemic

LONDON (Reuters) – Low levels of public confidence in vaccines in the European Union are driving down vaccination rates and increasing the number of disease outbreaks, according to a published expert report. Tuesday.

The recent measles outbreaks – the highest number in seven years in the EU – show the immediate impact of declining immunization coverage, the report says, and should prompt governments to act for increase awareness and confidence about the vaccine.

The report, published by the European Commission and written by a team of scientists led by Heidi Larson, professor and director of the Vaccine Confidence Project of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, revealed divergent trends in vaccine confidence in Member States of the EU.

Some countries – including France, Greece, Italy and Slovenia – have gained greater confidence in the safety of vaccines since 2015, while others, such as the Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and Sweden have become less confident.

EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said the findings of the report showed "the need for EU action".

He noted that Europe had less confidence in vaccine safety than in other parts of the world, and that seven of the top 10 countries with the lowest vaccine confidence in the world were in Europe. France, Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

"This is partly due to the growing influence of various anti-vaccine groups that disseminate misleading information via the Internet or in political forums," he said. "Their influence should make us all cautious."

The report found that doctors' trust in vaccines is linked to public trust and that, while family physicians generally have a higher level of confidence, there are worrying signs of mistrust even in the world. medical.

About 36% of family doctors surveyed in the Czech Republic and 25% in Slovakia disagree that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe, and 29% and 19% respectively do not consider it important, the survey showed.

The report revealed that since 2010, measles vaccination coverage – defined as a first dose of a measles vaccine such as the MMR vaccine – had decreased in 12 EU countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia , Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Czech Republic. , Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Confidence in vaccines was defined in the report as confidence in the effectiveness and safety of vaccines and in the health system that provides them.

A number of factors, including the importance, safety and efficacy of vaccines, influence confidence in vaccines and the demand for vaccines. Mr Larson said that monitoring trust over time could be an important barometer of emerging issues that countries may need to act on.

Larson noted that across the EU, confidence in influenza vaccines is lower than confidence in the MMR vaccine.

This is "perhaps due in part to the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine changing from year to year," she said, but also to "the low perception of the various serious risks of cancer." influenza ".

According to Dr. Larson, another worrying trend has been the increasing reluctance of physicians to recommend influenza vaccines to pregnant women: "This is worrisome, the group is considered to have a very high risk of serious complications when It's about the flu. "