Status of Pandemic Influenza Vaccination and Factors Affecting It in Pregnant Women in Kahramanmaras, an Eastern Mediterranean City of Turkey
Open Access
- 1 December 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 5 (12), e14177
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014177
Abstract
Pregnant women are a target group for receipt of influenza vaccine because there appears to be an elevated mortality and morbidity rate associated with influenza virus infection in pregnant women. The goal of this study is to determine the factors affecting the decisions of pregnant women in Turkey to be vaccinated or not for 2009 H1N1 influenza. We enrolled 314 of 522 (60.2%) pregnant women who attended to the antenatal clinics of the Medical Faculty of Kahramanmaras Sutcuimam University's Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics between December 23, 2009, and February 1, 2010. We developed a 48-question survey which was completed in a face-to-face interview at the clinic with each pregnant woman. Of the 314 pregnant women, 27.4% were in the first trimester, 33.8% were in the second trimester, and 38.8% were in the third trimester. Twenty-eight pregnant women (8.9%) got vaccinated. Of all the women interviewed, 68.5% stated that they were comfortable with their decisions about the vaccine, 7.3% stated they were not comfortable, and 24.2% stated that they were hesitant about their decisions. The probability of receiving the 2009 H1N1 vaccine was 3.46 times higher among working women than housewives, 1.85 times higher among women who have a child than those who do not, and 1.29 times higher among women with a high-school education or higher than those with only a secondary-school education and below. Correct knowledge about the minimal risks associated with receipt of influenza vaccine were associated with a significant increase in the probability of receiving the 2009 H1N1 vaccine. The number of pregnant women in the study group who received the 2009 H1N1 vaccine was very low (8.9%) and two-thirds of them stated that they were comfortable with their decisions concerning the vaccine. Our results may have implications for public health measures to increase the currently low vaccination rate among pregnant women. Further studies are required to confirm whether our findings generalize to other influenza seasons and other settings.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Low Acceptability of A/H1N1 Pandemic Vaccination in French Adult Population: Did Public Health Policy Fuel Public Dissonance?PLOS ONE, 2010
- Acceptability of A/H1N1 vaccination during pandemic phase of influenza A/H1N1 in Hong Kong: population based cross sectional surveyBMJ, 2009
- Pandemic Influenza and Pregnant Women: Summary of a Meeting of ExpertsAmerican Journal of Public Health, 2009
- Delivering Influenza Vaccine to Pregnant WomenEpidemiologic Reviews, 2006
- Emerging Infections and PregnancyEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2006
- Pneumonia in pregnancyCritical Care Medicine, 2005
- Influenza-Like Illness During Pregnancy: Results from a Study in the Eastern Townships, Province of QuebecJournal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 2003
- Impact of Influenza on Acute Cardiopulmonary Hospitalizations in Pregnant WomenAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 1998
- 1918 pandemic influenza and pneumonia in a large civil hospital.1976
- Deaths from Asian influenza associated with pregnancyAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 1959