Spatial distribution and determinants of childhood vaccination refusal in the United States

Parental refusal and delay of childhood vaccination has increased in recent years in the United States. This phenomenon challenges maintenance of herd immunity and increases the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. We examine US county-level vaccine refusal for patients under five years of age collected during the period 2012-2015 from an administrative healthcare dataset. We model these data with a Bayesian zero-inflated negative binomial regression model to capture social and political processes that are associated with vaccine refusal, as well as factors that affect our measurement of vaccine refusal. Our work highlights fine-scale socio-demographic characteristics associated with vaccine refusal nationally, finds that spatial clustering in refusal can be explained by such factors, and has the potential to aid in the development of targeted public health strategies for optimizing vaccine uptake. (c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

Parental refusal and delay of childhood vaccination has increased in recent years in the United States, posing risks to public health. This study analyzes county-level data from 2012-2015 to investigate the factors associated with vaccine refusal and its spatial distribution. The findings highlight the importance of socio-demographic characteristics and suggest the potential for targeted public health strategies to improve vaccine uptake.