Did the pandemic have an impact on influenza vaccination attitude? a survey among health care workers

Abstract

BackgroundHealth care workers' (HCWs) influenza vaccination attitude is known to be negative. The H1N1 epidemic had started in mid 2009 and made a peak in October-November in Turkey. A national vaccination campaign began on November 2nd, 2009. Despite the diligent efforts of the Ministry of Health and NGOs, the attitudes of the media and politicians were mostly negative. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether HCWs' vaccination attitudes improved during the pandemic and to assess the related factors.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey was carried out at the largest university hospital of the Aegean Region-Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire with 12 structured questions was applied to 807 HCWs (sample coverage 91.3%) before the onset of the vaccination programme. Their final vaccination status was tracked one week afterwards, using immunization records. Factors influencing vaccination rates were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, chi-square test and logistic regression.ResultsAmong 807 participants, 363 (45.3%) were doctors and 293 (36.6%) nurses. A total of 153 (19.0%) had been vaccinated against seasonal influenza in the 2008-2009 season. Regarding H1N1 vaccination, 143 (17.7%) were willing to be vaccinated vs. 357 (44.2%) unwilling. The number of indecisive HCWs was 307 (38.0%) one week prior to vaccination. Only 53 (11.1%) stated that they would vaccinate their children. Possible side effects (78%, n = 519) and lack of comprehensive field evaluation before marketing (77%, n = 508) were the most common reasons underlying unwillingness or hesitation.Among the 749 staff whose vaccination status could be tracked, 228 (30.4%) actually received the H1N1 vaccine. Some of the 'decided' staff members had changed their mind one week later. Only 82 (60%) of those willing, 108 (37%) of those indecisive and 38 (12%) of those unwilling were vaccinated.Indecisive HCWs were significantly younger (p = 0.017). Females, nurses, and HCWs working in surgical departments were more likely to reject vaccination (p < 0.05). Doctors, HCWs working in medical departments, and HCWs previously vaccinated against seasonal influenza were more likely to accept vaccination (p < 0.05). Being younger than 50 and having been vaccinated in the previous season were important predictors of attitude towards pandemic influenza vaccination.ConclusionsVaccination rates increased substantially in comparison to the previous influenza season. However, vaccination rates could have been even higher since hesitation to be vaccinated increased dramatically within one week (only 60% of those willing and the minority of those indecisive were finally vaccinated). We speculate that this may be connected with negative media at the time.

Willingness to Receive the Influenza A(H1N1) Vaccine and its Determinants among University Students during the 2009 Outbreak in Turkey

“…For the health group, one of the significant determinants of willingness to receive the Influenza A(H1N1) vaccine was previously being vaccined against seasonal influenza (O.R: 2.9 [1.5-5.6]).This result was similar to the study of Pfeil A et Table 3 al [20,21]. Like willingness, it was determined that seasonal influenza was also an important factor to beleive in the vaccine.…”

Pandemic Influenza A(H1N1) in Cote d'Ivoire: health-care providers’ knowledge of influenza and attitudes towards vaccination

“…Similar acceptance rates for vaccination have been reported in other studies among the general population (Mexico 80% [28], Canada 69% [29] and 75% [30], and 89% in Kenya [31]). However, our results are markedly different from those in other studies that have reported a low willingness to be vaccinated in HCPs [13][14][15][32][33][34][35]. This difference could be explained by the period at which certain studies were conducted, especially under the influence of the evolution of the pandemic.…”

“…In addition, the Ivorian health authorities had not released any specific information about the vaccine against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) to health-care providers; this situation posed a real risk in implementing a successful vaccination campaign [4][5][6][7]. Reports questioning the efficacy and safety of the pandemic vaccine [8][9][10][11][12] led to low vaccination coverage in health-care providers in some countries [13][14][15]. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there was a general lack of data on influenza, including both epidemiological data as well as data on seasonal vaccination against influenza [16][17][18].…”

Evaluation of healthcare providers’ approach towards pandemic influenza and their vaccination ratio

“…In studies conducted in our country it was found that the most frequent reasons for not getting a vaccination with pandemic influenza vaccine were the fear of the side effects of the vaccine and the lack of adequate studies on the vaccine [18]. Again in a study performed in Greece, though 97% of healthcare providers accept the importance of vaccination, only 17% were reported to have a vaccination with pandemic influenza vaccine [19].…”