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Autores principales: Gonçalves, Bronner P., Olliaro, Piero L., Sullivan, Sheena G., Cowling, Benjamin J.
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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Acceso en línea:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15095
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author Gonçalves, Bronner P.
Olliaro, Piero L.
Sullivan, Sheena G.
Cowling, Benjamin J.
author_facet Gonçalves, Bronner P.
Olliaro, Piero L.
Sullivan, Sheena G.
Cowling, Benjamin J.
contents Knowledge of the protection afforded by vaccines might, in some circumstances, modify a vaccinated individual's behaviour, potentially increasing exposure to pathogens and hindering effectiveness. Although vaccine studies typically do not explicitly account for this possibility in their analyses, we argue that natural direct effects might represent appropriate causal estimands when an objective is to quantify the effect of vaccination on disease while blocking its influence on behaviour. There are, however, complications of a practical nature for the estimation of natural direct effects in this context. Here, we discuss some of these issues, including exposure-outcome and mediator-outcome confounding by healthcare seeking behaviour, and possible approaches to facilitate estimates of these effects. This work highlights the importance of data collection on behaviour, of assessing whether vaccination induces riskier behaviour, and of understanding the potential effects of interventions on vaccination that could turn off vaccine's influence on behaviour.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_15095
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Natural direct effects of vaccines and post-vaccination behaviour
Gonçalves, Bronner P.
Olliaro, Piero L.
Sullivan, Sheena G.
Cowling, Benjamin J.
Methodology
Applications
Knowledge of the protection afforded by vaccines might, in some circumstances, modify a vaccinated individual's behaviour, potentially increasing exposure to pathogens and hindering effectiveness. Although vaccine studies typically do not explicitly account for this possibility in their analyses, we argue that natural direct effects might represent appropriate causal estimands when an objective is to quantify the effect of vaccination on disease while blocking its influence on behaviour. There are, however, complications of a practical nature for the estimation of natural direct effects in this context. Here, we discuss some of these issues, including exposure-outcome and mediator-outcome confounding by healthcare seeking behaviour, and possible approaches to facilitate estimates of these effects. This work highlights the importance of data collection on behaviour, of assessing whether vaccination induces riskier behaviour, and of understanding the potential effects of interventions on vaccination that could turn off vaccine's influence on behaviour.
title Natural direct effects of vaccines and post-vaccination behaviour
topic Methodology
Applications
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.15095