Author Interviews, Flu - Influenza, Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies / 15.06.2020
Parents Remain Concerned About Childhood Vaccines, Especially for Flu
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_54587" align="alignleft" width="175"]
Dr. Kempe[/caption]
Allison Kempe, MD, MPH
Ergen Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Outcomes Research
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Director of ACCORDS (Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science)
University of Colorado School of Medicine | Children’s Hospital Colorado
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In 2019 the WHO designated vaccine hesitancy as one of the ten leading threats to global health. Although studies have assessed parental vaccine hesitancy in different localities and estimated vaccine refusals nationally, there is little recent US national data on the prevalence of hesitancy about routine childhood vaccines and national hesitancy rates for influenza vaccine have never been assessed. We used a hesitancy scale developed by the WHO to estimate levels of parental hesitancy for both routine childhood and childhood influenza vaccination
Dr. Kempe[/caption]
Allison Kempe, MD, MPH
Ergen Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Outcomes Research
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Director of ACCORDS (Adult and Child Consortium for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science)
University of Colorado School of Medicine | Children’s Hospital Colorado
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In 2019 the WHO designated vaccine hesitancy as one of the ten leading threats to global health. Although studies have assessed parental vaccine hesitancy in different localities and estimated vaccine refusals nationally, there is little recent US national data on the prevalence of hesitancy about routine childhood vaccines and national hesitancy rates for influenza vaccine have never been assessed. We used a hesitancy scale developed by the WHO to estimate levels of parental hesitancy for both routine childhood and childhood influenza vaccination

Dr. Anna Phillips[/caption]
Dr Anna C. Phillips PhD CPsychol AFBPsS
Reader in Behavioural Medicine
School of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston Birmingham
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Phillips: We know that various factors can affect the response to vaccination and that older adults have a poorer response than younger people, i.e. they produce fewer antibodies. We also know that many immune messengers and important hormones have daily rhythms in their levels and wanted to test whether the antibody response to vaccination might also be affected by time of day. We randomised surgeries to giving morning or afternoon vaccinations and tested before and one month after the vaccination for levels of antibodies.
Two of the three flu strains (viruses) contained in the vaccine showed a higher antibody response in the morning than in the afternoon, up to 4 x higher to one of the strains (A/California) and 1.5 x higher to the B strain. None of the potential mechanisms we measured (immune messengers, hormones) seemed to be driving this effect.

