Childhood Vaccination: Science and Public Engagement in International Perspective, 2002-2004

Given crises of public confidence in certain childhood vaccination regimes both in the United Kingdom and West Africa, this study used the lens of vaccination to explore emerging science-society relations in European and African settings which have conventionally been theorised very differently. Focusing on the case of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination in Brighton, England and on the intersection of routine vaccination with Medical Research Council (MRC) research on a major pneumococcal vaccine trial in the Upper River Division of Gambia, this project used ethnographic and survey methods to explore parents' own perspectives and decision-making processes around vaccination and research participation.<br> <br> It aimed to assess how different parents' concerns are shaped by conceptual frameworks and knowledges around disease and immunity, and broader experiences of public health care and science, and how different people consider 'trade-offs' between social and individual benefits and risks. It also explored how vaccine scientists and public health professionals conceive of public perspectives around vaccination, and how 'frontline' staff mediate professional and public views. The study drew on perspectives from medical anthropology and the sociology of science, and used a combination of research methods. Only data from the quantitative phase of the research is included in this dataset.<br> <br> The quantitative research was conducted as follows. Mothers and fathers of a selected sample of children in the Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust (PCT) area were asked to complete a questionnaire covering their views on the risks associated with the MMR vaccination, along with demographic information and child health, and this was linked to information from the PCT child health database. For the Gambian survey, a sample of mothers were given a questionnaire on the health of their children. For further details of sampling and methodology used at both locations, see documentation.<br>