If a large majority of Europeans believe that vaccines are effective, misconceptions and ignorance of their effects are widespread, according to a survey released Friday. This is worrying the European Commission.
EU, "world region with the weakest confidence" on vaccines
The European executive, particularly worried about the growing number of measles cases, has published a special Eurobarometer survey on European attitudes towards vaccination. "Individual decisions affect the people of the EU as a whole," said Jyrki Katainen, one of the Commission's Vice-Presidents, who oversaw the issue.
Vaccines are "also a question of solidarity" with populations too fragile to be vaccinated, and thereby endangered by people deciding not to be vaccinated, added Jyrki Katainen at a point with journalists. According to him, the European Union "is the region of the world with the weakest confidence in the safety and efficacy of vaccines".
Doubts about vaccines
This survey, conducted in the last two weeks of March in the 28 EU countries with 27,524 people over the age of 15, shows that 85% of respondents believe that vaccines can be effective in preventing diseases such as measles, flu, hepatitis, tetanus or polio.
But it also highlights some misconceptions that circulate. Thus, on average one third of people (31%) wrongly think that vaccines weaken the immune system. And in 16 countries, at least half of respondents say that vaccines can "often produce serious side effects", including France (60% of respondents).