ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge of health care workers (HCW) on the influenza and pneumococcal vaccine.

A questionnaire about influenza and pneumococcal vaccination was administered to HCW and administrative staff.

A total of 225 subjects were included into the study; there were 180 women (80%) and 45 (20%) men. The mean age was 31.9±11.4 years, and 73.5% of the respondents stated that adult vaccination was effective. Pneumococcal vaccination (58.7%) was less well known, although 86.2% of respondents indicated that they were familiar with influenza vaccination. Only 28.4% of respondents indicated that they had influenza vaccine, and none of the cases had a pneumococcal vaccine. In 75% of influenza-vaccinated participants, the vaccination was suggested by a physician. Among influenza-vaccinated participants, the percentage of people who thought that vaccination was beneficial was 54.4%. The most common reasons for not vaccinating all participants were the belief that vaccination was ineffective (38.7%) and the belief about not being in a risk group (36.1%).

It was shown that the rate of influenza vaccination among hospital staff is low, and most of them were not familiar with pneumococcal vaccination. It is thought that educational programs on vaccination should be made to increase the awareness of the hospital staff who are at risk of infection due to their working environment.