Analysis of Parents' Attitudes and Knowledge toward Immunization and How These Factors Influence Their Decisions to Vaccinate Their Children against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).

Background and objectives: Vaccination hesitancy is a growing problem associated with decreasing chances for the elimination of vaccine-preventable diseases through immunization. This research was conducted to learn about parents' attitudes toward vaccination, particularly against HPV, in the context of their beliefs and fears regarding immunization and the impact of these views on their children's vaccination decisions. An additional goal was to determine what views or convictions most often lead to the phenomenon of delaying or refusing vaccinations, especially HPV vaccines, in the surveyed community. Materials and Methods: An online questionnaire was conducted in which parents marked how they vaccinated their children with mandatory vaccinations and whether they took the opportunity to protect their children with additional vaccinations, including HPV and COVID-19. Respondents also marked the extent to which they agreed with the statements, regarding the safety of vaccinations, doubts about them, as well as popular anti-vaccine myths. Results: A total of 250 questionnaires were collected with data on the immunization of 425 children. Associations between specific beliefs and vaccine abstention were established. The most motivating factor for vaccination against HPV was the parent's awareness that the virus HP is the cause of cancer. The most inhibiting factor was respondent's compliance with the opinion that HPV vaccines can affect the child's sexual activity. Conclusions: The results indicate that information campaigns are needed, especially focusing on vaccine safety and the regularity and transparency of monitoring adverse effects. The obtained results will be used to create educational interventions against vaccination hesitancy more adapted to local conditions.

Protective Vaccination Used by Doctors for Prevention of Infections.

Doctors, as with all healthcare workers, are a specific risk group due to a high probability of contact with contagious pathogens. An online survey was conducted among Polish doctors to establish their use of protective vaccination to decrease their personal risk of infection. The online survey was conducted using questions about medics' vaccination decisions and approaches. The results revealed that immunization against VPDs for most participants was not adequate based on recommendations or developments in vaccinology. To increase vaccination as a prophylactic method among doctors, especially those not involved in the immunization of patients, an educational campaign is demanded. As non-immunized medics are at risk themselves and are also a threat to the safety of patients, legal changes and the monitoring of vaccine acceptance and perception among medics are required.

Comparison between the American and the European Systems of Monitoring Adverse Effects of Dietary Supplements and Their Usefulness on the Polish Market.

Many Polish patients do not inform physicians about supplements they use in addition to prescribed medicines. This may be because they consider dietary supplements as being rather natural products that cannot cause health problems. Although dietary supplements may produce side effects, Poland's food safety system and medical statistics do not recognise the necessity of reporting such cases. However, a different approach is observed in France and the United States where adverse effects of food supplements as well as drugs are reported. The aim of this study was to determine the need for creating in Poland a general model of a register monitoring dietary supplements and their adverse effects. In order to achieve this goal, a detailed comparison between the American and European monitoring systems was made. It showed the relationship between negative symptoms caused by specific components in supplements and t profiles of patients who reported side effects. Additionally, it was found that there is a real risk associated with side effects caused by dietary supplements. Therefore, it necessary to establish in Poland a special system for recording such cases as it should be beneficial to patients, including polypragmatic patients.