In-hospital and web-based intervention to counteract vaccine hesitancy in very preterm infants’ families: a NICU experience

Abstract

Abstract Background Vaccine hesitancy is a global problem, carrying significant health risks for extremely vulnerable population as that of preterm infants. Social media are emerging as significant tools for public health promotion. Our aim was to evaluate both the coverage and the timeliness of routine immunizations in a cohort of preterm infants ( 0.05), while timeliness of administration was significantly delayed compared to the recommended schedule (p 0.05). DTaP-IPV-HBV-Hib 2nd and 3rd doses, MMR and Varicella vaccines coverage data were higher compared to historical cohort (p < 0.05). Conclusion Increasing vaccine confidence through web-based interventions could have a positive impact on vaccination acceptance of parents of preterm infants, although timeliness results still delayed. There is a strong need to develop different and effective vaccination strategies to protect this very vulnerable population.

Keywords

• Preterm newborn
• Vaccine hesitancy
• Web-based intervention
• Vaccination