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. 2023 Jul 10;11(7):1223.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines11071223.

Influenza Vaccination Uptake and Prognostic Factors among Health Professionals in Italy: Results from the Nationwide Surveillance PASSI 2015-2018

Valentina Minardi  1 , Rosaria Gallo  2   3 , Valentina Possenti  1 , Benedetta Contoli  1 , Davide Di Fonzo  4 , Elvira D'Andrea  5 , Maria Masocco  1
Affiliations

Influenza Vaccination Uptake and Prognostic Factors among Health Professionals in Italy: Results from the Nationwide Surveillance PASSI 2015-2018

Valentina Minardi et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Influenza causes a significant health and socio-economic burden every year, and health personnel (HP) are at higher risk of exposure to respiratory pathogens than the general population. (2) The study's purpose was to describe and compare influenza vaccine uptake and its prognostic factors among Medical Doctors (MDs) and Non-Medical Health Personnel (NMHP) vs. Non-HP (NHP). We analyzed 2014-2018 data (n = 105,608) from the Italian Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System PASSI that, since 2008, has been collecting health-related information continuously in sampled adults. (3) MDs and NMHP represented, respectively, 1.1% and 4.6% of the sample. Among HP, 22.8% (CI 19.8-26.1%) of MDs and 8.5% (CI 7.5-9.5%) of NMHP reported to have been vaccinated vs. 6.3% (CI 6.1-6.5%) in NHP. This difference is confirmed in the three categories (MDs, NMHP, NHP), even more across age groups: in 18-34 yy, respectively, 9.9%, 4.4%, 3.4% vs. 28.4%, 13.9%, 10.6% in 50-64 yy. PASSI surveillance shows an increasing influenza vaccination uptake over time, especially among MDs (22.2% in 2014 vs. 30.5% in 2018). (4) Despite such an increase, especially among younger HP, influenza vaccination uptake is low. Even more under pandemic scenarios, these figures represent key information to address effective strategies for disease prevention and health promotion.

Keywords: epidemiology; health care worker; health personnel; influenza vaccination; prevention; public health; surveillance system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart describing the subsample selection procedure from the working-age respondents to the surveillance system PASSI interview: Health Personnel (HP) including Medical Doctors (MDs) and Non-Medical Health Personnel (NMHP), 2014–2018 (n = 169,678).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends of adherence to seasonal influenza vaccination campaigns in the three category samples: Medical Doctors (MDs), Non-Medical Health Personnel (NMHP), and General population excluding HP (NHP). PASSI 2014–2018 (n = 103,901).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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