Original article
The Role of Media and the Internet on Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting: A Case Study of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.09.005Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to determine the temporal association of print media coverage and Internet search activity with adverse events reports associated with the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil (HPV4) and the meningitis vaccine Menactra (MNQ) among United States adolescents.

Methods

We used moderated linear regression to test the relationships between print media reports in top circulating newspapers, Internet search activity, and reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) for HPV4 and MNQ during the first 2.5 years after Food and Drug Administration approval.

Results

Compared with MNQ, HPV4 had more coverage in the print media and Internet search activity, which corresponded with the frequency of VAERS reports. In February 2007, we observed a spike in print media for HPV4. Although media coverage waned, Internet search activity remained stable and predicted the rise in HPV4-associated VAERS reports.

Conclusions

We demonstrate that media coverage and Internet search activity, in particular, may promote increased adverse event reporting. Public health officials who have long recognized the importance of proactive engagement with news media must now consider strategies for meaningful participation in Internet discussions.

Section snippets

Data sources and procedures

Multiple data sources were included in our analysis, including the monthly total of adverse event reports from VAERS, the monthly total of print media reports from top-circulating U.S. newspapers, and the monthly frequency of Internet search activity as measured by Google Insights for Search beta. The public availability and de-identified nature of the data received from these sources did not necessitate institutional review.

The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System is a post-marketing,

Summary of Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and print media reports

In the initial 2.5 years post-FDA licensure, 1,220 MNQ- and 5,040 HPV4-associated adverse events reported to VAERS met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The monthly mean number of HPV4-associated VAERS reports was 159.19 (standard deviation [SD], 92.55), which was significantly greater (t[60] = 6.96; p < .001) than MNQ-associated VAERS reports (mean, 18.77, SD, 28.34). In the 2.5 years after FDA licensure, we identified 582 and 249 unique news reports published in top circulating U.S.

Discussion

As hypothesized, there was a temporal association between the frequency of media reports and the frequency of VAERS reports for HPV4, whereas none was found for MNQ. During the initial 2.5 years after FDA licensure, the frequency of media reports related to MNQ remained stable and low. In contrast, for the HPV4 vaccine, there was an intense spike in media coverage during Month 9 after FDA licensure, followed by a period of decline in which the frequency of HPV4-related media reports remained

Funding Sources

There were no sources of funding, either direct or indirect, for this study.

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