Metrics details. In , Denmark experienced a rapid decline in vaccination uptake for the human papillomavirus HPV vaccine after a successful introduction of the vaccine in The decline followed negative public attention from coinciding with increasing suspected adverse-event reporting to the Danish Medicines Agency. The aim of this study is to describe the HPV-vaccination uptake, to quantify relevant HPV-related media coverage, and analyse the relation between media coverage and HPV-vaccination acceptance in Denmark in year — Three types of data were used for the analysis: Immunisation data from , girls, media coverage news items and Google search activity.
We used changes in the correlation between media coverage and vaccination uptake to identify a changing point in their relationship. The relationship before and after the changing point was analysed determined on the interactions between vaccination uptake, media and search activity, with search activity as a proxy for public attention.
We identified July as a changing point in the relationship between media coverage and vaccination uptake. Following a successful launch of the HPV-vaccination programme, concerns about vaccine safety shifted the public opinion and the coverage by the media.
The noticeable shift in correlation between vaccination uptake and media coverage before and after July could indicate that increased media coverage influenced the decline in vaccination uptake.
Media monitoring may represent an important tool in future monitoring and assessment of confidence in vaccination programmes. Peer Review reports.
