Acceptability of the dengue vaccination among parents in urban poor communities of Quezon City, Philippines before and after vaccine suspension

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to illustrate the acceptability of the dengue vaccine before and after the dengue vaccination suspension in urban poor communities in Quezon City, Philippines. RESULTS: There were 12 interviews conducted in November 2017 and 5 focus group discussions in January 2018, a month after vaccine program suspension with 41 participants. All participants were selected through purposive criterion sampling. Thematic analysis showed acceptability of the dengue vaccine was associated with parental experience with vaccination and dengue, trust in public health institutions and communication received by parents. Post-dengue vaccination suspension triangulation indicated that the parents regretted the experience, trust to public institutions was eroded and the communication strategy was deemed inadequate. This led to low vaccine acceptability post-vaccine suspension.