Parental awareness of Meningococcal B vaccines and willingness to vaccinate their teens

Background: In the US, Meningococcal B (MenB) vaccines were first licensed in 2014. In 2015, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that parents of teens talk to their provider about receiving MenB vaccine, rather than issuing a routine recommendation. We assessed parental awareness of MenB vaccines and willingness to vaccinate their teens with MenB vaccines compared to MenACWY vaccines, which have been routinely recommended for many years.

Methods: We surveyed parents of teens attending high school in 2017-18 during the Minnesota State Fair. Parents reported via iPad their knowledge of and concern about meningococcal disease and their awareness of and willingness to vaccinate with MenB and MenACWY vaccines. We assessed the relationship between meningococcal disease knowledge and concern, MenB and MenACWY vaccine awareness, and willingness to vaccinate with MenB and MenACWY using adjusted logistic regression.

Results: Among 445 parents, the majority had not heard of the newly introduced MenB vaccines Bexsero® (80.0%; 95% CI: 76.0-83.6) or Trumenba® (82.0%; 95% CI: 78.1-85.5) or the MenACWY vaccines Menactra® or Menveo® (68.8%; 95% CI: 64.2-73.0). The majority were at least somewhat willing to vaccinate their teen with MenB vaccine (89.6%; 95% CI: 86.5, 92.3) and MenACWY vaccine (91.2%; 95% CI: 88.2, 93.7). Awareness of MenB vaccines (OR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.2-12.2) and concern about meningococcal disease (OR: 3.1; 95% CI: 1.5-6.3) were significantly associated with willingness to vaccinate with MenB vaccine.

Conclusions: Awareness of MenB vaccine is lacking among parents of teens but is an important predictor of willingness to vaccinate with the newly licensed MenB vaccines.