Vaccination

Knowledge about antibiotics and attitudes towards vaccination: Regression analysis of Wellcome Monitor survey data.

In this article, available as an unrefereed preprint, I present and discuss an analysis of the Wellcome Monitor Wave 4 survey dataset. I argue that perceptions of the risk of side-effects from vaccination correlate in the British population with public understandings of the role of antibiotics in treating infections. This correlation is suggestive of a common population for whom linked public health interventions may be beneficial on these society-spanning health topics.

However, this is only a starting point. Survey data is a limiting format when considering concepts as complex as vaccine-related risk. Research is needed to understand the nature of this association and identify areas of public understanding that are not exclusive to specific health interventions but that may be targeted to improve responsiveness to vaccine-and antibiotic-related public health interventions.