• Margarida Arede, Maria Bravo-Araya, Émilie Bouchard, Gurlal Singh Gill, Valerie Plajer, Adiba Shehraj, and Yassir Adam Shuaib.
• Royal Veterinary College, University of London, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
• Front Public Health. 2018 Jan 1; 6: 381.

AbstractDespite scientific evidence supporting the fact that vaccines are fundamental tools for preventing infectious diseases, a percentage of the population still refuses some or all of them. Vaccine hesitancy has become a widespread issue, and its complexity lies in the great variety of factors that can influence decisions about immunization, which are not just vaccine-related concerns, but also involve personal and societal levels. Our research group performed an extensive literature review to analyze: (1) different age groups, their relation to the problem and their characteristics; (2) the most important information (key messages) about immunization that could be used to counteract hesitancy; and (3) best approaches to transmit the messages to the target groups. We propose a long-term approach to overcome vaccine hesitancy that involves the education of children and adolescents on the basics about immunization and critical thinking, using different communication channels.

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