Parents’ Perceptions of Flu Illness and Their Decision-Making Process Regarding the Nasal Flu Vaccine for Children.

Influenza (flu) is a vaccine preventable disease which contributes to significant morbidity and healthcare associated costs each winter.  There are ongoing changes to the way UK health authorities provide flu vaccine. All two to 17 year olds, nationwide, will be recommended to receive the nasal flu vaccine every year.  This will provide direct protection to children, but also provide herd protection to all age groups with underlying medical conditions who are more vulnerable to serious consequences of flu infection. There is little UK research that looks into how parents of children view flu illness and if they will support the universal flu vaccine programme. Research on other childhood vaccinations, has highlighted that important decision modifiers are: perceptions of disease severity; lifestyle; risk perceptions and trust. This study sought to explore and identify what parents’ perceptions of flu illness in children were, and how they decide whether to accept or decline nasal flu vaccine for their child.

The research adopted a two stage approach.  First, a survey was distributed to all parents of children in one primary school, and achieved a 25% response rate. Second, 10 survey respondents were theoretically recruited for in-depth semi-structured interviews. Themes that emerged from the survey were used to structure the interview.  Themes surrounded risk and side effects, flu illness, herd protection, information and trust, and general views on vaccination.

Support for childhood vaccines generally was high among survey participants, but just under half were supportive of the flu vaccine for healthy children.  From the interviews, the differences between parents in favour and not in favour of the universal flu vaccine, surrounded the concepts of trust, community responsibility, controllability and the perception of risk. These are discussed within the context of the Health Belief Model.

Findings largely concurred with previous vaccine research. The implications of this research have highlighted the need for clear and transparent communication between health authorities and the public, to build trust. Future studies should specifically explore parents who are flu vaccine hesitant but generally in favour of other infant vaccinations.