PURPOSE Women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant in the influenza season or caring for infant 6-59 months of age are identified as priority groups for influenza vaccination. Vaccination rate is presumed to be low in those women. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of childbearing age women about influenza vaccination. MATERIALS AND METHODS Childbearing age wome...

BACKGROUND There is growing evidence that seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnancy has benefits for mother and baby. We determined influenza vaccination rates among pregnant women during the 2 nonpandemic influenza seasons following the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, explored maternal factors as predictors of influenza vaccination status and evaluated the association between maternal influenza vaccinat...

BACKGROUND This study was carried out to estimate the vaccination coverage, public perception, and preventive behaviors against pandemic influenza A (H1N1) and to understand the motivation and barriers to vaccination between high-risk and non-high-risk groups during the outbreak of pandemic influenza A (H1N1). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A cross-sectional nationwide telephone survey of 1,6...

Previous modeling studies have identified the vaccination coverage level necessary for preventing influenza epidemics, but have not shown whether this critical coverage can be reached. Here we use computational modeling to determine, for the first time, whether the critical coverage for influenza can be achieved by voluntary vaccination. We construct a novel individual-level model of human cogn...

Aim To explore the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of nurses in Greece towards influenza vaccination. Method Four focus groups were conducted with 30 nurses. Content analysis of the focus group interviews was undertaken. Findings Participants were knowledgeable about influenza and the influenza vaccination. The main reasons given for not being vaccinated were: being in good health, not being s...

Influenza vaccination is the primary approach to prevent influenza annually. WHO/CDC recommendations prioritize vaccinations mainly on the basis of age and co-morbidities, but have never considered influenza infection history of individuals for vaccination targeting. We evaluated such influenza vaccination policies through small-world contact networks simulations. Further, to verify our finding...

STUDY OBJECTIVES People with asthma are at high risk for complications from influenza; therefore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual influenza vaccination for people with asthma. Because little is known about such vaccination rates among adults, especially those aged 18 to 49 years and 50 to 64 years, we sought to estimate influenza vaccination rates among US ad...

Previous modeling studies have identified the vaccination coverage level necessary for preventing influenza epidemics, but have not shown whether this critical coverage can be reached. Here we use computational modeling to determine, for the first time, whether the critical coverage for influenza can be achieved by voluntary vaccination. We construct a novel individual-level model of human cogn...

BACKGROUND The influenza vaccination rate in hospitals among health care workers in Europe remains low. As there is a lack of research about management factors we assessed factors reported by administrators of general hospitals that are associated with the influenza vaccine uptake among health care workers. METHODS All 81 general hospitals in the Netherlands were approached to participate in ...

BACKGROUND The possible risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome from influenza vaccines remains a potential obstacle to achieving high vaccination coverage. However, influenza infection might also be associated with Guillain-Barré syndrome. We aimed to assess the risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome after seasonal influenza vaccination and after influenza-coded health-care encounters. METHODS We used the ...