Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug 18;10(8):1341.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines10081341.

Flu Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Times of COVID-19: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior

Corrado Colaprico  1 , Eleonora Ricci  1 , Andrea Bongiovanni  1 , Valentin Imeshtari  1 , Vanessa India Barletta  1 , Maria Vittoria Manai  1 , David Shaholli  1 , Mattia Marte  1 , Pasquale Serruto  1 , Giuseppe La Torre  1
Affiliations

Flu Vaccination among Healthcare Professionals in Times of COVID-19: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior

Corrado Colaprico et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

The seasonal flu vaccine is the most important way to prevent influenza epidemics, so it is useful to increase the awareness of health professionals. The aim of our study is to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about flu vaccination among healthcare professionals in times of COVID-19.

Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out between November 2020 and April 2021. Participants were recruited in teaching hospital 'Policlinico Umberto I' of Rome. A survey of 24 questions about flu vaccination was administered, evaluating their knowledge, attitude, and practice about this topic.

Results: 872 healthcare professionals were involved in the study (36.9% men, 63.1% women). More than 90% of the HCWs, especially physicians, recognize the importance of getting influenza vaccination: The main reasons for not getting vaccinated were fear of vaccine side effects (20.3%) and fear of the needle (6.4%). Nevertheless, 40.7% of the healthcare providers consider mandatory vaccination as unethical, especially if they work in low-intensity wards.

Conclusion: a high percentage of healthcare workers agree with the importance of influenza vaccination and only a small percentage is still opposed. It is therefore important to continue to promote the influenza vaccination through communication and health education programs.

Keywords: COVID-19; attitudes; behavior; flu vaccination; healthcare professionals; knowledge.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Collier L., Oxford J., Kellam P. Orthomyxoviruses and Influenza. In: Collier L., Oxford J., Kellam P., Oxford J., editors. Human Virology. Oxford University Press; New York, NY, USA: 2006. pp. 87–95.
    1. Hollmeyer H.G., Hayden F., Poland G. Influenza vaccination of health care workers in hospitals—A review of studies on attitudes and predictors. Vaccine. 2009;27:3935–3944. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.03.056. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bridges C.B., Harper S.A., Fukuda K., Uyeki T.M., Cox N.J., Singleton J.A. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Prevention and control of influenza. Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) MMWR Recomm. Rep. 2003;52:1–34. quiz CE1-4. - PubMed
    1. Hulo S., Nuvoli A., Sobaszek A., Salembier-Trichard A. Knowledge and attitudes towards influenza vaccination of health care workers in emergency services. Vaccine. 2017;35:205–207. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.11.086. - DOI - PubMed
    1. World Health Organisation (WHO) [(accessed on 29 July 2022)];2022 Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/how-can-i-avoid....

LinkOut - more resources