Knowledge, attitude and practices about influenza vaccines amongst hospital staff in a tertiary care hospital
Harsh Vardhan Sharma, Sushil Sharma, Abhinav Gupta, Yogeshwari Himmatsing Patil, Ravinder Kumar GuptaABSTRACT
Background:
People working in health care are particularly vulnerable to catching influenza infection as they are always exposed to probable cases in hospital settings. Influenza is a communicable disease that transmits from patients to healthcare workers (HCWs) and vice versa. Contrary to most of the recommendations, influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is low.
Aims:
This study intends to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards influenza vaccination in a group of HCWs.
Materials and Methods:
In this cross-sectional study conducted, 128 HCWs participated. Institutional ethical committee clearance was obtained before starting the study. It was conducted from April 2023 to May 2023. A set of 20 questions were sent in a single Google sheet to all participating HCWs affiliated with the institution. Data collected were tabulated using MS Excel and analysed using proper statistical tools.
Results:
Amongst the aggregate of 250 HCWs approached, 128 (51.2%) replied to the questionnaire. Of these, 71 (55.5%) responses were from female participants and 51 (44.5%) were from male participants. The maximum respondents belonged to the age group of 25–39 years (40.6%), followed by the age group of 50–59 years (25%). Most respondents were paramedics who comprised about 40.6% of the total study population, followed by nurses (28.9%). Amongst the total study population of 128, only 44 (34.4%) have had the influenza vaccine at the minimum once in their lifespan, the most common reason for acceptance was that it was recommended at their workplace (38.6%) and it protects high-risk patients (22.7%). Whereas 84 (65.6%) have not received an influenza vaccine ever in their lifetime, the reasons being their mistrust in vaccines preventing influenza disease (35.7%) and their belief that they are not at risk for influenza (28.6%).
Conclusion:
There is an unsatisfactory rate of influenza vaccination amongst HCWs. Maximum HCWs believe that the vaccine is safe and protects from influenza. Vaccine coverage needs to be improved by making all the stakeholders put more effort into the same.