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Obesity, Fitness & Wellness Week
Willingness to receive smallpox vaccination depended on level of knowledge among physicians and public safety personnel.
“Planning for voluntary smallpox vaccination of health and safety officials began in December 2002. Surveys were conducted among physicians and fire and police department personnel in Atlanta, Georgia. Information on demographics, willingness to receive smallpox vaccine, self-reported knowledge level, and potential vaccine contraindications was analyzed,” investigators in the United States report.
“Forty-one percent of physicians (n=199) were undecided on vaccination (32% would receive vaccine and 27% would not),” reported B.J. Silk and colleagues at Emory University. “Forty-eight percent of firefighters (D=343) and 41% of police (n 466) were undecided; 23% and 41% would receive vaccine, whereas 28% and 18% would not (fire and police, respectively). Absence of contraindications was associated with physicians’ willingness to be vaccinated (p=0.006). Many physicians (66%) and most public safety personnel (88%) considered themselves inadequately informed on smallpox vaccine.”
The researchers concluded, “In a multivariate analysis, inadequately informed respondents were more likely to be undecided (OR=2.23, CI=1.39 to 3.56). Before implementation of the smallpox vaccination program, self-assessed knowledge about smallpox disease and vaccine were poor.”
Silk and associates published their study in the Southern Medical Journal (Pre-event willingness to receive smallpox vaccine among physicians and public safety personnel. South Med J, 2005;98(9):876-882).