Abstract

Objective: Meningococcal, rotavirus and Human papilloma virüs (HPV) vaccines which are approved but not yet involved in our national immunization programme, known to be efficient and safe, involved in national vaccination programmes of many countries, are applied according to parents’will in our country. In this study it is aimed to evaluate attitudes of pediatrists in our Ankara City Hospital, Children’s Hospital, status of their encountering invasive meningococcal disease and rotavirus gastroenteritis, vaccine refusal and their reasons.

Material and Methods: Questionnaire forms were filled out with 93 doctors (residents, specialists, professors) working in our Ankara City Hospital, Children’s Hospital, pediatrics department and approving to involve in the study.

Results: The study enrolled a total of 93 participants 74 (79.6%) pediatrics residents, 16 (17.2%) specialists and 3 (3.2%) professors. In our study all of the participants advised meningoccal vaccine whereas rotavirus vaccine was advised by 77 (82.8%) and HPV by 83 doctors (89.2%). There was no statistically significant difference between seniority and advice of vaccine. Among participants 32 of them advised meningococcal vaccine starting form 2 months (34.4%) while15 of them advised after 24 months (16.1%). The advice of initiation of vaccine was influenced by, will of early immunization, increased burden of disease due to increased immigration and cost. Vaccine refusal was encountered rarely by 63 (67.7%) of the participant, whereas 21 (22.6%) of them encountered commonly and 9 (9.7%) of the doctors never encountered vaccine refusal. Commonest reasons of vaccine refusal were wrong data and anxieties regarding the additive substances of the vaccine (30.1%), fear of side affect due to vaccine (23.7%), thought of triggering autism by vaccine (23.7%), religious reasons (17.2%) and lack of knowledge (17.2%).

Conclusion: Although not involved in national immunization programme, meningococcal, rotavirus and HPV vaccines were advised my majority of the doctors. Commonest reason of vaccine refusal was observed as lack of knowledge or misinformation about vaccine and its contents. More additive studies are warranted regarding vaccine refusal and hesitancy.

Keywords: Vaccine, Vaccine refusal, HPV, Meningococcus, Rotavirus

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Copyright and license

Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Özkaya Parlakay A, Yiğit M, Gülhan B, Bedir T, Kanık Yüksek S. Evaluation of Opinions of Pediatrists in A Tertiary Healthcare Hospiatal About Meningococcal, Rotavirus, Human Papilloma Virus Vaccines and İncidence of Encountering Vaccine Refusal and Reasons of Vaccine Refusal. Turk J Pediatr Dis [Internet]. 2020 May 29 [cited 2025 Aug. 23];14(3):264-7. Available from: https://turkjpediatrdis.org/article/view/695