A study done by local researchers found that social media and websites can influence whether a new mom decides to vaccinate her child.
A little less than 1% of children in the U.S. between 19 and 35 months are not vaccinated. Ten to 20% of parents have refused or delayed giving their child a vaccine, and even more are worried about vaccines and their side effects.
A new study by the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research looked at how social media and the internet influence pregnant women’s decisions to vaccinate their children.
Approximately 1,100 pregnant women in their third trimester were included in the study. The women were assigned to one of 3 groups: (1) usual care with their doctors; (2) usual care with access to a website with vaccine information and (3) usual care, vaccine website and social media (blogs, chat room, discussion forum, “Ask an Expert a Question,” and a monthly newsletter).
Pregnant women were interviewed when they first enrolled in the study, when their infant was 3 to 5 months old, and then again at age 12 to 15 months.
The researchers wanted to see if the addition of access to accurate information through a website, as well as social media, made a difference in the women’s attitudes and beliefs toward vaccinating their children.
Overall, women who were hesitant about vaccines, both in the website and the website plus social media group, had a decrease in their concerns about vaccines and saw the benefits of vaccines at their follow-up surveys. Women who were not hesitant about vaccinations did not see a significant change in their attitudes or behavior in any of the intervention groups. The group with social media also was more likely to vaccinate their children on time as compared to the group who just had the usual visits with their healthcare providers.
Read full article and learn more about social media and vaccines: https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/9news-medical-expert-talks-about-vaccinations/73-556619955