Influenza vaccination among infection control teams: A EUCIC survey prior to COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT

We aimed to describe the influenza vaccination rate and its determinants among infection control team (ICT) across different countries. Online multilingual survey consisting of 23 items, between 17 May -15 July of 2019 targeting the opinions and practices of ICTs regarding the 2018-2019 influenza season was employed. Participants were reached via European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and European Union Certificate for Infection Control (EUCIC) newsletters,social media, and national societies. In total, 899 participants from 56 countries responded to the survey. The overall vaccination rate was 76%, being the highest in Finland, Portugal, Norway, and Israel (100%), whereas the lowest in Italy (68%) and Turkey (39%). Influenza vaccination rate was 86% among IC physicians and 52% among IC nurses. The most significant factors affecting participants' decision were personal influenza vaccine experience (49%) and attitude of the scientific authorities (48%). In multivariate analysis, vaccination of the ICT head (OR 16.04, 95%CI 8.4-30.8, p < 0.001) and having free vaccine (OR 7.56, 95%CI 2.1-27.4, p = 0.02) were found to be the strongest predictors for influenza vaccination, whereas working in Turkey (OR 0.41, 95%CI 0.22-0.77, p = 0.006) and being an IC nurse (OR0.43, 95%CI 0.24-0.80, p = 0.007) were significantly associated with not having been vaccinated. In conclusion, COVID-19 pandemic increased the importance of protection against respiratory viruses including influenza. Vaccination strategies should have a special emphasis on IC nurses, who have a relatively lower vaccination rate, should enhance the vaccination of the ICT leaders, and put effort to provide free availability of the influenza vaccine.