An overview of current and potential use of information and communication technologies for immunization promotion among adolescents.

Information and communication technologies (ICT)- such as the Internet or mobile telephony- have become an important part of the life of today's adolescents and their main means of procuring information. The new generation of the Internet based on social-networking technologies- Web 2.0- is increasingly used for health purposes by both laypeople and health professionals. A broad spectrum of Web 2.0 applications provides several opportunities for healthcare workers- in that they can reach large numbers of teenagers in an individualized way and promote vaccine-related knowledge in an interactive and entertaining manner. These applications- namely social-networking and video-sharing websites- wikis and microblogs- should be monitored in order to identify current attitudes toward vaccination- to reply to vaccination critics and to establish a real-time dialog with users. Moreover- the ubiquity of mobile telephony makes it a valuable means of involving teenagers in immunization promotion- especially in developing countries.