<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Health care personnel (HCP) are at high risk of acquiring influenza due to exposure to patients. However, vaccination in HCP is lower than 40% for most European countries. The aim of this study was to determine the attitude towards influenza vaccination and possible reasons for this attitude in HCP. A cross-sectional study was performed in a multidisciplinary hospital of Latvia. The sample (n = 1099) included doctors (239), nurses (418), care services (236), administrative staff (108), and technical support staff (98). Five questions addressed vaccination of planned patients and HCP, knowledge of etiological anti-influenza drugs, and their storage at the hospital for immediate use. The results revealed that the level of regular vaccination against influenza in HCP was relatively low (14%). This contrasted with a more positive attitude towards vaccination of patients (53%) and personnel (60%). This contrast provided evidence for a low level of proactive action. High expectations regarding medications covered by the hospital (82%) indicated transferring of part of personal responsibility to the organisation. Doctors demonstrated a better understanding of the problem and a higher level of vaccination. However, some of doctors’ attitudes showed underestimation of influenza-associated risk.</p></abstract>

Health care personnel (HCP) are at high risk of acquiring influenza due to exposure to patients. However, vaccination in HCP is lower than 40% for most European countries. The aim of this study was to determine the attitude towards influenza vaccination and possible reasons for this attitude in HCP. A cross-sectional study was performed in a multidisciplinary hospital of Latvia. The sample (n = 1099) included doctors (239), nurses (418), care services (236), administrative staff (108), and technical support staff (98). Five questions addressed vaccination of planned patients and HCP, knowledge of etiological anti-influenza drugs, and their storage at the hospital for immediate use. The results revealed that the level of regular vaccination against influenza in HCP was relatively low (14%). This contrasted with a more positive attitude towards vaccination of patients (53%) and personnel (60%). This contrast provided evidence for a low level of proactive action. High expectations regarding medications covered by the hospital (82%) indicated transferring of part of personal responsibility to the organisation. Doctors demonstrated a better understanding of the problem and a higher level of vaccination. However, some of doctors’ attitudes showed underestimation of influenza-associated risk.

Vaccination Against Influenza: Attitude of Health Care Personnel in a Multidisciplinary Hospital in Latvia

Department of Infectology and Dermatology

Joint Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Immunogenetics

Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. Section B. Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Health care personnel (HCP) are at high risk of acquiring influenza due to exposure to patients. However, vaccination in HCP is lower than 40% for most...

Vaccination Against Influenza: Attitude of Health Care Personnel in a Multidisciplinary Hospital in Latvia

Published Online: Jul 12, 2019

Page range: 403 - 406

Received: Dec 28, 2018

Accepted: May 23, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/prolas-2019-0063

Keywords
influenza, vaccination, attitude, primary control, secondary control

© 2019 Ludmila Vīksna et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Vaccination Against Influenza: Attitude of Health Care Personnel in a Multidisciplinary Hospital in Latvia

Published Online: Jul 12, 2019

Page range: 403 - 406

Received: Dec 28, 2018

Accepted: May 23, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/prolas-2019-0063

Keywordsinfluenza, vaccination, attitude, primary control, secondary control

© 2019 Ludmila Vīksna et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
influenza, vaccination, attitude, primary control, secondary control