Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Jan 2018
Beliefs, attitudes, and activities of healthcare personnel about influenza and pneumococcal vaccines.
Vaccination of healthcare personnel (HCP) is an effective measure for preventing the spread of influenza among at-risk patients. This study was conducted to determine influenza vaccination rates and activities among HCP working at a tertiary healthcare setting. ⋯ Our results indicated that influenza vaccination rates are low in our whole HCP sample, with physicians having a slightly better rate than other HCP. Getting regularly vaccinated, having an educational level of college or higher, being a physician, and having a professional experience of more than 5 years positively affects the rate of future vaccinations. Physicians significantly more commonly recommended and prescribed the influenza vaccine than the pneumococcal vaccine. The most important reasons for getting vaccinated included having the opinion that the vaccine provided partial protection and intending to protect family members from infection. In our whole HCP sample, the reasons of not getting vaccinated against influenza included fear of vaccine's adverse effects and doubts about its efficacy and safety. Training meetings should be held for HCPs to underscore the importance of the influenza vaccine for protection of patients against the influenza.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Jan 2018
Reporting of adverse events following immunizations in Ghana - Using disproportionality analysis reporting ratios.
Timely reporting of safety information post vaccination is pivotal for the success of any vaccination program. Reports of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) of 6 different vaccinations from Ghana were analysed for signals. ⋯ These results underscore the competency of public health systems in sub-Saharan African countries (like Ghana) to identify most frequently occurring and important vaccine related safety issues.
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Addressing the drivers of vaccine hesitancy and the barriers to vaccine acceptance is a complex but important task. While the percentage of hesitant does vary from country to country and in time few, if any, countries are ever free from this problem. ⋯ Immunization program managers and health care workers need to become adept at recognizing and tackling hesitancy in all of its incarnations if high levels of vaccine acceptance are to be achieved but must also actively support immunization acceptors in order to build and support vaccine acceptance resiliency. This paper presents evidence-informed strategies to achieve these goals.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Jan 2018
Vaccination in pregnancy: Attitudes of nurses, midwives and health visitors in England.
To examine amongst healthcare professionals in England; knowledge of vaccinations in pregnancy, their perceived roles in these programmes and whether they recommend scheduled vaccines to pregnant women. ⋯ Immunisation training is essential if healthcare workers are to be informed and confident in effectively delivering the maternal immunisation programme and thus improving uptake of vaccines in pregnancy. These findings are important in tailoring educational programmes and addressing the training needs of different healthcare professional groups.
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Hum Vaccin Immunother · Jan 2018
Determinants of BCG scarification among children in rural Guinea-Bissau: A prospective cohort study.
Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination may have beneficial non-specific effects on child survival, the effects being stronger for children developing a scar. In a prospective cohort study, we examined determinants for not developing a BCG scar within 6 months of vaccination. ⋯ Vaccination technique and vaccine strain were associated with BCG scar development while nutritional status and socioeconomic status were not. Scarring rate may therefore be a better indicator of vaccination programme performance than coverage.