Multinational survey shows low awareness of tick-borne encephalitis and rabies among travellers to endemic regions

Marano, Cinzia; Moodley, Melissa; Melander, Elaine; Moerlooze, Laurence De; Nothdurft, Hans Dieter

doi:10.1093/jtm/tay069

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Finally, our study deliberately assessed the KAP of recruited participants on a selected set of immunizations, but women of childbearing age could be targeted by other interventions of some occupational interest, including but not limited to vaccines for Neisseria meningitidis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (i.e., BCG) for healthcare workers, Hepatitis A virus, typhoid vaccines, and tick-borne encephalitis vaccine for workers traveling to parts of the world where these pathologies are common, and even rabies vaccines for professionals involved in laboratory and veterinary practice [30,31,[121][122][123][124][125][126][127]. Moreover, workplaces may represent an appropriate setting for improving the acceptance of immunizations with a more limited occupational interest, such as pneumococcus, and mostly human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Hesitancy in Women of Childbearing Age and Occupational Physicians: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study (Italy, 2022)

Riccò

Baldassarre

Cerviere

et al. 2023

Women

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Italian occupational physicians (OPs) are instrumental in promoting vaccination practice in occupational settings, and this study aims to characterize their attitudes, knowledge, and practices (collectively, KAP) towards immunization practice in women of childbearing age. A convenience sample of 120 OPs (50.8% males, mean age of 48.2 ± 5.9 years old) completed a structured online questionnaire (potential recipients: 2034; response rate: 5.9%) assessing their understanding of official recommendations, their general knowledge of vaccine practice, their attitudes towards vaccines, and their risk perception about vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. The sampled OPs exhibited a good understanding of official recommendations, and they were largely favorable towards vaccination of pregnant women. Knowledge status was relatively good (potential range 0 to 100%, average score 22 74.5% ± 18.2), while risk perception towards sampled disorders was heterogenous: the greatest was the one for SARS-CoV-2 (52.7% ± 32.9), followed by seasonal influenza (45.3% ± 31.6), and pertussis (37.8% 24 ± 28.2). The main predictors for promoting vaccination were higher knowledge about seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV; adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 102.2, 95% Confidence Interval [95%CI] 9.68–1080.26), tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap; aOR 12.34, 95%CI 2.62; 58.22) 27 and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (aOR 14.76, 95%CI 2.74–79.69). A better attitude towards SIV was positively associated with previous vaccination of the respondent (aOR 4.90, 95%CI 1.19–20.14), while higher risk perception towards SIV was characterized as a negative predictor (aOR 0.04, 95%CI 0.01–0.35), as was working as an OP in healthcare facilities (aOR 0.03, 95%CI 0.01–0.43). Tdap was positively associated with male gender of respondents (aOR 10.22, 95%CI 2.60 to 40.24) and higher risk perception about pertussis (aOR 10.38, 95%CI 1.47 to 73.47). Overall, our data suggest that improving the understanding of OPs about the health burden of frequently encountered pathogens could be instrumental in increasing their involvement in the promotion of vaccine practice. Because of the low rate of response to our survey, our conclusions remain tentative.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccine Hesitancy in Women of Childbearing Age and Occupational Physicians: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study (Italy, 2022)

Riccò

Baldassarre

Cerviere

et al. 2023

Women

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“…Although the recommendation to undergo vaccination is particularly strong for people traveling to endemic areas, awareness of the risk of contracting TBE when traveling to such regions is much lower than the perceived risk of contracting hepatitis A or B (about 30 vs. 70%) [83,84]. These findings suggest that the perceived low risk of exposure to TBE among travelers to endemic regions causes these subjects to underestimate the need for pre-travel vaccinations.…”

Section: Tbe As a Travel Riskmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…These findings suggest that the perceived low risk of exposure to TBE among travelers to endemic regions causes these subjects to underestimate the need for pre-travel vaccinations. There is therefore a need to increase travelers' awareness of the risk of TBE and its prevention, and travel clinics could play an important role in this process [83,84]. In the context of travel medicine, it is important to emphasize that the rapid immunization schedules, with an interval of 2 weeks between the first two doses, have been seen to elicit high antibody titers 14 days after administration of the second dose (89.3%), and 7 days after administration of the third dose (91.7%) [43].…”

Section: Tbe As a Travel Riskmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccination against Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in Italy: Still a Long Way to Go

et al. 2022

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Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is endemic in several European countries, and its incidence has recently increased. Various factors may explain this phenomenon: social factors (changes in human behavior, duration and type of leisure activities and increased tourism in European high-risk areas), ecological factors (e.g., effects of climate change on the tick population and reservoir animals), and technological factors (improved diagnostics, increased medical awareness). Furthermore, the real burden of TBE is not completely known, as the performance of surveillance systems is suboptimal and cases of disease are under-reported in several areas. Given the potentially severe clinical course of the disease, the absence of any antiviral therapy, and the impossibility of interrupting the transmission of the virus in nature, vaccination is the mainstay of prevention and control. TBE vaccines are effective (protective effect of approximately 95% after completion of the basic vaccination—three doses) and well tolerated. However, their uptake in endemic areas is suboptimal. In the main endemic countries where vaccination is included in the national/regional immunization program (with reimbursed vaccination programs), this decision was driven by a cost-effectiveness assessment (CEA), which is a helpful tool in the decision-making process. All CEA studies conducted have demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of TBE vaccination. Unfortunately, CEA is still lacking in many endemic countries, including Italy. In the future, it will be necessary to fill this gap in order to introduce an effective vaccination strategy in endemic areas. Finally, raising awareness of TBE, its consequences and the benefit of vaccination is critical in order to increase vaccination coverage and reduce the burden of the disease.

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“…By increasing knowledge and awareness about TBE we hope this will lead to a positive increase in vaccine uptake. 3 …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Considering the market share of vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis reported in Austria

Jenkins¹,

Hoet²

2022

Journal of Travel Medicine

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Multinational survey shows low awareness of tick-borne encephalitis and rabies among travellers to endemic regions

Cited by 9 publications

References 12 publications

Vaccine Hesitancy in Women of Childbearing Age and Occupational Physicians: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study (Italy, 2022)

Vaccine Hesitancy in Women of Childbearing Age and Occupational Physicians: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study (Italy, 2022)

Vaccination against Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in Italy: Still a Long Way to Go

Considering the market share of vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis reported in Austria

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