Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica

Introduction: Annual seasonal influenza vaccination in healthcare workers prevents nosocomial transmission to patients, coworkers, and visitors, and reduces absenteeism. This study aimed to describe knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of seasonal influenza vaccine among public healthcare work...

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Main Authors: Zachary Madewell, Rafael Chacón-Fuentes, Xiomara Badilla-Vargas, Catalina Ramirez, Maria-Renee Ortiz, Juan-Pablo Alvis-Estrada, Jorge Jara
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2021-07-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14381
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author Zachary Madewell
Rafael Chacón-Fuentes
Xiomara Badilla-Vargas
Catalina Ramirez
Maria-Renee Ortiz
Juan-Pablo Alvis-Estrada
Jorge Jara
author_facet Zachary Madewell
Rafael Chacón-Fuentes
Xiomara Badilla-Vargas
Catalina Ramirez
Maria-Renee Ortiz
Juan-Pablo Alvis-Estrada
Jorge Jara
author_sort Zachary Madewell
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: Annual seasonal influenza vaccination in healthcare workers prevents nosocomial transmission to patients, coworkers, and visitors, and reduces absenteeism. This study aimed to describe knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of seasonal influenza vaccine among public healthcare workers attending patients in Costa Rica. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of healthcare personnel attending patients in public hospitals in 2017–2018. Frequency distributions of demographics, vaccination KAP, sources of information, clinical manifestations and reasons for non-vaccination were reported. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between exposures of interest (demographics, sources of information, knowledge, attitudes towards vaccination) and self-reported influenza vaccination. Results: We surveyed 747 healthcare workers in 2017–2018. Of 706 participants who knew their vaccination status, 55.7% were vaccinated for seasonal influenza. Only 20.7% of participants knew the influenza vaccine was an inactivated virus, and 94.6% believed the vaccine causes flu-like symptoms. Factors associated with current influenza vaccination were vaccination in previous year (aOR: 8.13; 95% CI: 5.65–11.71) and believed influenza vaccination may be harmful (aOR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.44–0.89). Reasons for non-vaccination included fear of adverse effects and access limitations. Conclusions: Suboptimal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers may be attributed to misconceptions about the vaccine and limited engagement strategies focusing on healthcare workers. Appropriate interventions are needed to increase healthcare worker vaccination rates and improve their knowledge and beneficence, which would improve patient safety in hospitals.
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spelling doaj-art-5fc5f77c93ed4cc78adc32e4d19baca52025-08-20T02:27:14ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802021-07-01150710.3855/jidc.14381Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa RicaZachary Madewell0Rafael Chacón-Fuentes1Xiomara Badilla-Vargas2Catalina Ramirez3Maria-Renee Ortiz4Juan-Pablo Alvis-Estrada5Jorge Jara6Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, GuatemalaCentro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, GuatemalaCaja Costarricense del Seguro Social, San José, Costa RicaCaja Costarricense del Seguro Social, San José, Costa RicaCentro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, GuatemalaCentro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, GuatemalaCentro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala Introduction: Annual seasonal influenza vaccination in healthcare workers prevents nosocomial transmission to patients, coworkers, and visitors, and reduces absenteeism. This study aimed to describe knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of seasonal influenza vaccine among public healthcare workers attending patients in Costa Rica. Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of healthcare personnel attending patients in public hospitals in 2017–2018. Frequency distributions of demographics, vaccination KAP, sources of information, clinical manifestations and reasons for non-vaccination were reported. Logistic regression was used to analyze associations between exposures of interest (demographics, sources of information, knowledge, attitudes towards vaccination) and self-reported influenza vaccination. Results: We surveyed 747 healthcare workers in 2017–2018. Of 706 participants who knew their vaccination status, 55.7% were vaccinated for seasonal influenza. Only 20.7% of participants knew the influenza vaccine was an inactivated virus, and 94.6% believed the vaccine causes flu-like symptoms. Factors associated with current influenza vaccination were vaccination in previous year (aOR: 8.13; 95% CI: 5.65–11.71) and believed influenza vaccination may be harmful (aOR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.44–0.89). Reasons for non-vaccination included fear of adverse effects and access limitations. Conclusions: Suboptimal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers may be attributed to misconceptions about the vaccine and limited engagement strategies focusing on healthcare workers. Appropriate interventions are needed to increase healthcare worker vaccination rates and improve their knowledge and beneficence, which would improve patient safety in hospitals. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14381Central Americaimmunizationvaccination coveragehealth personnelinfluenza vaccines
spellingShingle Zachary Madewell
Rafael Chacón-Fuentes
Xiomara Badilla-Vargas
Catalina Ramirez
Maria-Renee Ortiz
Juan-Pablo Alvis-Estrada
Jorge Jara
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Central America
immunization
vaccination coverage
health personnel
influenza vaccines
title Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
title_full Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
title_fullStr Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
title_short Knowledge, attitudes, and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination, healthcare workers, Costa Rica
title_sort knowledge attitudes and practices for the use of seasonal influenza vaccination healthcare workers costa rica
topic Central America
immunization
vaccination coverage
health personnel
influenza vaccines
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/14381
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