{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T08:13:35Z","timestamp":1782893615033,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1634774400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009947","name":"Merck Sharp and Dohme","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009947","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Varicella infection is a highly contagious disease which, whilst mild in most cases, can cause severe complications. Varicella vaccination is available privately in Sweden and is currently being reviewed for inclusion in the Swedish Public Health Agency\u2019s national immunisation program (NIP). A cross-sectional study of parents of Swedish children aged 1\u20138 years (n = 2212) was conducted to understand parental acceptance, beliefs and knowledge around varicella infection and vaccination. Respondents generally viewed varicella infection as a mild disease, with only a small proportion aware of potential severe complications. While 65% of respondents were aware of the vaccine, only 15% had started the course of vaccination as of February 2019. Further, 43% of parents did not intend to vaccinate, most commonly due to lack of inclusion in the NIP, but also due to perception of mild disease. Nevertheless, if offered within the NIP, 85% of parents would be highly likely to vaccinate their child. A number of statistically significant differences in awareness and behaviours were observed between sociodemographic subgroups. In general, women were more aware of vaccination (72%) compared to men (58%). Among unemployed or respondents with elementary school education, awareness was below 43%, and among respondents with high income the awareness was above 75%. Similarly, among unemployed or respondents with a low income the vaccination rate was as low as 30% compared with at least 57% among respondents with a high income. Respondents from metropolitan areas, those with university degrees and respondents with a higher income were more likely to be aware of the varicella vaccine and to have vaccinated their child. Whilst inclusion in the NIP is clearly the main driver for uptake, these identified knowledge gaps should inform educational efforts to ensure that all parents are informed of the availability and benefits of the varicella vaccine independent of socioeconomic status.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0256642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T17:30:37Z","timestamp":1634837437000},"page":"e0256642","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Parental acceptance and knowledge of varicella vaccination in relation to socioeconomics in Sweden: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Lisen","family":"Arnheim-Dahlstr\u00f6m","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natalie","family":"Zarabi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9964-5866","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Karin","family":"Hagen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Goran","family":"Bencina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]},"reference":[{"issue":"9544","key":"pone.0256642.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1365","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(06)69561-5","article-title":"Varicella","volume":"368","author":"U Heininger","year":"2006","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0256642.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"666","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-016-1957-5","article-title":"The burden of chickenpox disease in Sweden","volume":"16","author":"K Widgren","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0256642.ref003","unstructured":"WHO. Varicella and herpes zoster vaccines: WHO position paper. 2014."},{"key":"pone.0256642.ref004","article-title":"Chickenpox","author":"J Breuer","year":"2011","journal-title":"BMJ Clin Evid"},{"key":"pone.0256642.ref005","unstructured":"Public Health Agency of Sweden. Childhood vaccination program Annual Report 2019. https:\/\/www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se\/contentassets\/ac113e02858e442391e329c19965091c\/barnvaccinationsprogrammet-sverige-2019.pdf. Published 2020."},{"key":"pone.0256642.ref006","unstructured":"Public Health Agency of Sweden. Changes in the national vaccination programme. https:\/\/www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se\/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden\/communicable-disease-control\/vaccinations\/changes-in-the-national-vaccination-programme\/. February 2020. Accessed September 2020."},{"issue":"22","key":"pone.0256642.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3909","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2020.01.078","article-title":"Confidence in the National Immunization Program among parents in Sweden 2016\u2014A cross-sectional survey","volume":"38","author":"E Bystr\u00f6m","year":"2020","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"issue":"Suppl 2","key":"pone.0256642.ref008","first-page":"A5","article-title":"OC-14 Impact of universal varicella vaccination in Germany","volume":"102","author":"S Andrea","year":"2017","journal-title":"Archives of Disease in Childhood"},{"key":"pone.0256642.ref009","unstructured":"Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Prevalence of varicella virus in Finland. https:\/\/thl.fi\/fi\/web\/infektiotaudit-ja-rokotukset\/taudit-ja-torjunta\/taudit-ja-taudinaiheuttajat-a-o\/vesirokko\/vesirokkoviruksen-esiintyvyys-suomessa. Updated August 2020. Accessed September 2020."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0256642.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"672","DOI":"10.1186\/s13104-017-3004-z","article-title":"Intention to vaccinate universally against varicella, rotavirus gastroenteritis, meningococcal B disease and seasonal influenza among parents in the Netherlands: an internet survey","volume":"10","author":"A van Lier","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Res Notes"},{"issue":"33","key":"pone.0256642.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5249","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2020.05.091","article-title":"Attitudes towards varicella vaccination in parents and paediatric healthcare providers in Hungary","volume":"38","author":"A Huber","year":"2020","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0256642.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"172","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-017-2247-6","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of parents towards varicella and its vaccination","volume":"17","author":"L Vezzosi","year":"2017","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"},{"issue":"36","key":"pone.0256642.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1519","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000001519","article-title":"Parental Attitudes and Factors Associated With Varicella Vaccination in Preschool and Schoolchildren in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Study","volume":"94","author":"WWS Tam","year":"2015","journal-title":"Medicine (Baltimore)"},{"issue":"50","key":"pone.0256642.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7666","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2018.10.085","article-title":"Social differentiation of vaccine hesitancy among French parents and the mediating role of trust and commitment to health: A nationwide cross-sectional study","volume":"36","author":"A Bocquier","year":"2018","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0256642.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"127","DOI":"10.1186\/s12879-016-1442-1","article-title":"Negative attitude and low intention to vaccinate universally against varicella among public health professionals and parents in the Netherlands: two internet surveys","volume":"16","author":"A van Lier","year":"2016","journal-title":"BMC Infect Dis"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256642","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]],"date-time":"2021-10-21T17:30:53Z","timestamp":1634837453000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256642"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Kingston","family":"Rajiah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256642","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,21]]}}}