Awareness of Meningococcal Disease among Travelers from the United Kingdom to the Meningitis Belt in Africa

Goodman, Anna; Masuet-Aumatell, Cristina; Halbert, J; Zuckerman, Jane N.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.13-0763

Cited by 15 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The high costs of vaccinations or travellers' poor awareness about meningitis risk during travel to the meningitis belt in Africa may be the main reasons for poor vaccination rates. 32 Rabies vaccination was administered to only 0.4% of all travellers. This was while 8.6% and 2.9% of all travellers reported engagement in outdoor activities and possible contact with animals, respectively.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccinations of International Travellers From Greece to Sub-Saharan Africa

Pavli

Smeti

Antoniadou

et al. 2017

Int J Travel Med Glob Health

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Introduction During that past few decades, international travel has dramatically increased worldwide. The number of international tourists is expected to reach a total of 1.6 billion by the year 2020. Travel to Africa recorded a growth of 2%. 1 International travels to tropical and subtropical countries may increase the risk of exposure to infectious diseases and may facilitate their global spread. 2,3 Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most common destinations (26.7%) where illnesses are acquired by travellers. 4 A large proportion of imported infectious diseases to developed countries, including Greece, are related to Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPDs). 5,6 VPDs account for 3% of febrile episodes. According to GeoSentinel data; typhoid fever, hepatitis A, and influenza A were the most common VPDs. 6,7 Therefore, vaccine prophylaxis is an important measure of pre-travel advice. Risk assessment is based on travel variants such as destination, purpose, duration, area and place of travel and travellers' variants including age, medical and vaccination history. Recommendation of vaccinations prior to travel is based on risk assessment and includes routine vaccines (vaccines recommended by the national immunization program), required vaccines, according to the International Health Regulation (IHR), and recommended vaccines. 8 The current study aimed at assessing pre-travel preparation and provision of vaccinations to international travellers from Greece visiting http://ijtmgh.com

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccinations of International Travellers From Greece to Sub-Saharan Africa

Pavli

Smeti

Antoniadou

et al. 2017

Int J Travel Med Glob Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Some adjustments were made to the survey instrument. A question on vaccine cost was removed to reflect the free provision of UK healthcare and items pertaining to knowledge of meningitis and the impact of family and friends were incorporated to reflect evidence that these factors have previously influenced vaccination uptake [ 10 , 17 , 30 , 31 ]. In light of these amendments, further validation was undertaken.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uptake of a new meningitis vaccination programme amongst first-year undergraduate students in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study

et al. 2017

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BackgroundIn 2015 meningococcal group W was declared endemic in the UK, with the meningococcal ACWY vaccination (MenACWY) subsequently introduced amongst adolescents and first-year university students. This study aimed to determine MenACWY uptake amongst students and to evaluate how this was influenced by demographics and via the Health Belief Model (HBM).MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study conducted at a British university amongst first-year undergraduate students aged 18–25 years. Data collection was via an electronic questionnaire encompassing demographics, the HBM and vaccination status. Univariable analysis of the associations between demographics, health beliefs and vaccination was performed, followed by multiple logistic regression.Results401 participants were included in analysis. Vaccine uptake was 68.1%. Variables independently associated with vaccination upon multiple regression were age, gap-year, perceived effectiveness of the vaccine and knowledge about risk of meningitis. Compared to 18 year-olds, the odds of vaccination were reduced for 19 year-olds (aOR = 0.087, 95% CI = 0.010–0.729), 20 year-olds (aOR = 0.019, 95% CI = 0.002–0.161) and 21–25 year-olds (aOR = 0.003, 95% CI = <0.001–0.027). In contrast, taking a gap year (aOR = 2.939, 95% CI = 1.329–6.501), higher perceived vaccine effectiveness (aOR = 3.555, 95% CI = 1.787–7.073) and knowledge about meningitis risk (aOR = 2.481, 95% CI = 1.165–5.287) were independently associated with increased uptake.ConclusionsMenACWY uptake amongst students in this study and in other sources is above the national coverage for all adolescents (35.3%), indicating that this vaccination programme may be increasing health inequalities. Older students are less likely to become vaccinated due to differing vaccination policy in this age-group. In future, strategies that focus on specific student cohorts and that highlight vaccine effectiveness and the risk of meningitis should be considered. National evaluation of this vaccination programme is recommended to clarify its impact on health inequalities.

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“…The vaccinations that were studied were diverse, most papers discussed vaccinations for influenza (n = 7), hepatitis B virus (HBV) (n = 6), hepatitis A virus (HAV) (n = 5) and meningococcal disease (n = 5). Regarding age, three papers reported that younger people had a higher uptake [18,20,24]. However, for influenza vaccination this was the opposite: older travellers were more likely to be vaccinated for seasonal influenza [27,32].…”

Section: Predisposing Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of Vaccination Uptake in Risk Populations: A Comprehensive Literature Review

et al. 2020

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Vaccination uptake has decreased globally in recent years, with a subsequent rise of vaccine-preventable diseases. Travellers, immunocompromised patients (ICP), and healthcare workers (HCW) are groups at increased risk for (severe) infectious diseases due to their behaviour, health, or occupation, respectively. While targeted vaccination guidelines are available, vaccination uptake seems low. In this review, we give a comprehensive overview of determinants—based on the integrated change model—predicting vaccination uptake in these groups. In travellers, low perceived risk of infection and low awareness of vaccination recommendations contributed to low uptake. Additionally, ICP were often unaware of the recommended vaccinations. A physician’s recommendation is strongly correlated with higher uptake. Furthermore, ICP appeared to be mainly concerned about the risks of vaccination and fear of deterioration of their underlying disease. For HCW, perceived risk of (the severity of) infection for themselves and for their patients together with perceived benefits of vaccination contribute most to their vaccination behaviour. As the determinants that affect uptake are numerous and diverse, we argue that future studies and interventions should be based on multifactorial health behaviour models, especially for travellers and ICP as only a limited number of such studies is available yet.

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Awareness of Meningococcal Disease among Travelers from the United Kingdom to the Meningitis Belt in Africa

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Vaccinations of International Travellers From Greece to Sub-Saharan Africa

Vaccinations of International Travellers From Greece to Sub-Saharan Africa

Uptake of a new meningitis vaccination programme amongst first-year undergraduate students in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional study

Determinants of Vaccination Uptake in Risk Populations: A Comprehensive Literature Review

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