RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Childhood vaccination hesitancy in Saudi Arabia: are we still facing a problem?
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 551
OP 559
DO 10.15537/smj.2024.45.6.20240116
VO 45
IS 6
A1 Alamir, Abdulrahman A. Bin
YR 2024
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/45/6/551.abstract
AB Vaccination is a crucial public health intervention for infection prevention. Yet, vaccine hesitation has emerged as a pressing public health concern. The objective of this review is to identify the widespread and causes of vaccine hesitancy prevalance among parents of children in Saudi Arabia. A narrative review, surveying several databases, including PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, Google Scholar, and relevant regional journals. We selected studies related to vaccine hesitancy prevalence and causes after removing duplicates and screening for relevance and access to full text. A total of 18 articles met the final selection criteria.The prevalence of parental vaccination reluctance in Saudi Arabia shown significant variability; ranging from 3.1-72.2%. Concerns regarding vaccine side effects appeared as the foremost reason for vaccine hesitancy. The review concluded that numerous Saudi Arabian parents still hesitate to vaccinate their children. They believe the potential adverse effects of vaccination outweigh the protective benefits against diseases.