Willingness of healthcare workers to accept voluntary stockpiled H5N1 vaccine in advance of pandemic activity
Willingness of healthcare workers to accept voluntary stockpiled H5N1 vaccine in advance of pandemic activity
Healthcare workers may be at risk during the next influenza pandemic. Priming with stockpiled vaccine may protect staff and reduce nosocomial transmission. Despite campaigns to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage, uptake among healthcare workers is generally low; creating uncertainty whether they would participate in pre-pandemic vaccine programmes. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of healthcare workers in a UK hospital during, and 6 months after, a period of media reporting of an H5N1 outbreak at a commercial UK poultry farm. A total of 520 questionnaires were returned, representing 20% of frontline workforce. More respondents indicated willingness to accept stockpiled H5N1 vaccine during the period of media attention than after (166/262, 63.4% vs. 134/258, 51.9%; p = 0.009). Following multivariate analysis, factors associated with willingness to accept H5N1 vaccine included: previous seasonal vaccine (OR 6.2, 95% CI 3.0–12.8, p < 0.0001), awareness of occupational seasonal vaccine campaigns (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4–3.5, p = 0.001), belief that seasonal vaccine benefits themselves (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6–4.0, p < 0.0001) or the hospital (OR 3.6, 95% CI 2.3–5.8, p < 0.0001), belief that pandemic risk is high/moderate (OR 14.1, 95% CI 7.6–26.1, p < 0.0001) and would threaten healthcare workers (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.8–4.5, p < 0.0001). Those who would not accept vaccine (220 respondents, 42.7%) if offered before the pandemic do not perceive pandemic influenza as a serious threat, and have concerns regarding vaccine safety. A majority of healthcare workers are amenable to accept stockpiled H5N1 vaccine if offered in advance of pandemic activity.
1242-1247
Pareek, M.
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Clark, T.W.
712ec18e-613c-45df-a013-c8a22834e14f
Dillon, H.
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Kumar, R.
74dee938-14d6-4728-b727-e15fbb5b35b9
Stephenson, I.
cffd5c3c-042f-4902-a2c3-b07b7b79a470
18 February 2009
Pareek, M.
19ebd2b3-9d91-4f35-8550-0c3ad6420cc4
Clark, T.W.
712ec18e-613c-45df-a013-c8a22834e14f
Dillon, H.
2a1d8637-38ab-447b-8fcf-94a53dad3bee
Kumar, R.
74dee938-14d6-4728-b727-e15fbb5b35b9
Stephenson, I.
cffd5c3c-042f-4902-a2c3-b07b7b79a470
Pareek, M., Clark, T.W., Dillon, H., Kumar, R. and Stephenson, I.
(2009)
Willingness of healthcare workers to accept voluntary stockpiled H5N1 vaccine in advance of pandemic activity.
Vaccine, 27 (8), .
(doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.12.006).
(PMID:19114078)
Abstract
Healthcare workers may be at risk during the next influenza pandemic. Priming with stockpiled vaccine may protect staff and reduce nosocomial transmission. Despite campaigns to increase seasonal influenza vaccine coverage, uptake among healthcare workers is generally low; creating uncertainty whether they would participate in pre-pandemic vaccine programmes. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of healthcare workers in a UK hospital during, and 6 months after, a period of media reporting of an H5N1 outbreak at a commercial UK poultry farm. A total of 520 questionnaires were returned, representing 20% of frontline workforce. More respondents indicated willingness to accept stockpiled H5N1 vaccine during the period of media attention than after (166/262, 63.4% vs. 134/258, 51.9%; p = 0.009). Following multivariate analysis, factors associated with willingness to accept H5N1 vaccine included: previous seasonal vaccine (OR 6.2, 95% CI 3.0–12.8, p < 0.0001), awareness of occupational seasonal vaccine campaigns (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4–3.5, p = 0.001), belief that seasonal vaccine benefits themselves (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6–4.0, p < 0.0001) or the hospital (OR 3.6, 95% CI 2.3–5.8, p < 0.0001), belief that pandemic risk is high/moderate (OR 14.1, 95% CI 7.6–26.1, p < 0.0001) and would threaten healthcare workers (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.8–4.5, p < 0.0001). Those who would not accept vaccine (220 respondents, 42.7%) if offered before the pandemic do not perceive pandemic influenza as a serious threat, and have concerns regarding vaccine safety. A majority of healthcare workers are amenable to accept stockpiled H5N1 vaccine if offered in advance of pandemic activity.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 27 December 2008
Published date: 18 February 2009
Organisations:
Faculty of Medicine
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Local EPrints ID: 356778
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/356778
PURE UUID: 306dec59-8ac0-4be4-adec-d52fd7667372
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Date deposited: 25 Sep 2013 16:05
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:49
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Author:
M. Pareek
Author:
H. Dillon
Author:
R. Kumar
Author:
I. Stephenson
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