Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of Health Care Workers in Oncology, Hemodialysis and Transplantation Towards Influenza Vaccination in Isfahan, Iran

Introduction: Influenza is a viral disease which is self-limited in immunocompetent patients but it can be dangerous in immunocompromised patients. In these patients, it may lead to sever viral and/or bacterial infection that may often lead to death. Therefore, prevention of influenza in immunocompromised patients is very important; consequently health care workers’ belief is also important. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices of health care workers in oncology, hemodialysis and transplantation towards influenza vaccination in hospitals of Isfahan in 2017. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study selected health care workers filled a questionnaire. In the first section of the questionnaire the subjects were asked about their demographic characterization and in the second section about their knowledge, attitude and practices. At the end, data were evaluated and analyzed using SPSS software. Results: This study evaluated 110 units, among which 72 were (65.5%) female and 38 (34.5%) were male. Mean age of individuals was 32.7±7 years and mean time of their working acquaintance was 8.49±6.8 years. Attitude of the health care workers was good but only 58 units from 110 (52.7%) had been vaccinated. Conclusion: Considering the knowledge and attitude of the participants and their low proportion of vaccination, it seems that there should be programs for improving the vaccination in health care workers in Iran Moreover, Iran should model on the countries that have better vaccination coverage in their health care workers.