Annual influenza vaccination

Despite national and international recommendations, annual influenza vaccination uptake among health care providers (HCPs) remains sub-optimal. This study investigated the uptake, enablers, and barriers to annual influenza vaccination in medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy students at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, using an online survey and semi-structured interviews. In 2013, uptake rate of influenza vaccination was 36.3% (95% CI = 31.8–40.8%). Employment as a HCP (OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1–2.5), being a medical student (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2–5.1) and eligibility for government-funded vaccine (OR 7.1, 95% CI 2.7–18.6) were independently associated with increased uptake. Awareness, cost, and convenience were identified as key barriers to vaccination with interview data suggesting that raising awareness of the benefits of influenza vaccination, along with improving student HCPs’ access to affordable, convenient vaccination are likely to improve uptake. Responsibility to increase uptake should be shared between universities and student HCPs.

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