Rubella vaccine: Awareness alone cannot influence the attitude of people. A cross- sectional survey among medical students and professionals in central India.

ABSTRACT

Background: About a third of the world's countries still lack rubella vaccination programs, so the virus remains common in many developing nations including India. Aims & Objective: The present cross-sectional study was carried out to study awareness, vaccination coverage, reasons for not receiving vaccine and the outlook of unvaccinated subjects for future vaccination against rubella. Material and Methods: It was conducted among 202 women medical professionals from a tertiary care and teaching hospital of Ujjain district in central India. Results: The study revealed that though the awareness about rubella was high (94.1%) vaccination coverage was only 42.1%. The commonest reasons quoted for non-vaccination were related to their non-seriousness about the issue. Sources of information for rubella vaccination were their gynaecologist/doctor (62.3%) or medical books or literature (36.5%) and not any mass media. Conclusion: The study delineates the difference in the knowledge of rubella and vaccination status in medical professionals. The study shows that the awareness alone cannot influence the attitude of the people but better strategies are needed for that.