Attitudes and knowledge of Health care workers in Cieszyn County of the Silesian Province in southern Poland about seasonal flu vaccinations – preliminary study

Objectives Influenza is one of the more common viral infectious diseases, the occurrence of which is a significant clinical, epidemiological and economic problem. According to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), around 5% -10% of adults and 20%-30% of children fall ill worldwide every year. During the year, 3–5 million acute cases are registered, and around 250,000–650,000 people die. The annual influenza vaccine is the best method of preventing the disease. Health care workers are a risk group for influenza. Objective The aim of the survey was to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards vaccination among health care workers (HCWs) Material and methods The study was conducted among a group of 330 randomly selected employees of medical facilities in the Cieszyn County of the Silesian Province in southern Poland. The research tools were a self-made questionnaire and a knowledge test. To assess the statistical significance of differences in qualitative data between the groups, the chi independence test was applied. Results 47.6% of the respondents had a low-level of knowledge about flu vaccination, in 41.8% it was at the medium level, and in only 10.6% the knowledge level was high. The average number of points scored in the knowledge test was 4.44 (SD =2.33) out of 12 points possible. Only every third respondent was in favour of the vaccination. Slightly over 15% of the respondents (17.60%) were vaccinated against influenza in the current 2018–2019 season. Conclusions Knowledge about vaccination against influenza is incomplete. A small percentage of health care professionals are in favour of influenza vaccination. There is a need to increase efforts to promote annual influenza vaccination among health care professionals.