Determination of Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Acceptation Rate and Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude of Physicians and Personnel of Ali-Asghar Children’s Hospital

Background: Influenza is an acute respiratory viral infectious disease that can cause 650,000 deaths annually. Hospital personnel are highly exposed to it. Attention should be paid to the fact that these people, along with the risk to themselves, spread the infection among other patients and vulnerable groups’ like pediatric patients. The best way to prevent the disease is vaccination, which has been emphasized by the World Health Organization. Unfortunately, the rate of receiving this vaccine in Iran and most countries in the world is not well suited to the indicators, which requires research to identify the factors of this issue in the direction of planning to resolve it. This study was designed and implemented in an educational pediatric hospital to identify the causes of non-vaccination. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional observational study and data were collected by non-randomized sampling method through a questionnaire on the history of receiving the seasonal influenza vaccine, and knowledge and attitude about the seasonal influenza vaccine among physicians in the pediatric hospital. Data was analyzed using Chi-square, independent T, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient by SPSS version 22 software. Results: In this study, the rate of vaccination was 46.5%, which was higher in people with higher knowledge and higher work record. Also, being informed about vaccine availability in work place has increased and the history of side effects has reduced its acceptance rate. People who had a higher knowledge score were more likely to receive the vaccine in the future, recommending it to others. Conclusion: Considering the significant relationship between knowledge and the rate of vaccination, it is possible to increase the acceptance of vaccination by identifying the wrong beliefs and removing the scientific weaknesses of the respondents.