Abstract
Last decades, the number of routine childhood vaccinations has increased considerably, which consequently has led to multiple vaccine injections per consultation. Implementation of additional vaccines will probably lead to more than 2 vaccine injections per consult, which might be a barrier for parents to vaccinate their child. A decrease in vaccination coverage, however, increases the risk of disease outbreaks. Less stressful alternative methods for vaccine delivery might lead to an increased acceptance of multiple childhood vaccinations by parents. The present questionnaire study was set up to explore the maximum number of vaccine injections per visit that is acceptable for parents, as well as to gauge parents' attitude toward alternative needle-free methods for vaccine delivery. For this purpose, the parents' opinion toward a jet injector, a patch, a microneedle system, and nasal spray device as methods for vaccine delivery was assessed. The majority of the 1154 participating parents indicated that 3 vaccine injections per visit was perceived as too much. Most participants had a positive attitude with respect to the jet injector and the patch as alternative vaccine delivery method, whereas the microneedle device and an intranasal spray device were not perceived as better than the conventional syringe by the parents. Parents indicated that both the jet injector and the patch might increase their acceptance of giving their children more than 2 vaccinations at the same time. This should encourage vaccine developers and manufacturers to put efforts in developing these delivery methods for their vaccines.