Influenza vaccination coverage against seasonal and pandemic influenza and their determinants in France: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

BackgroundFollowing the emergence of the influenza A(H1N1)2009 virus, the French ministry of health decided to offer free vaccination against pandemic influenza to the entire French population. Groups of people were defined and prioritised for vaccination.MethodsWe took a random sample of the population of mainland France and conducted a retrospective cross-sectional telephone survey to estimate vaccination coverage against seasonal and pandemic influenza and to identify determinants of these vaccinations.Results10,091 people were included in the survey. Overall seasonal influenza vaccination coverage (IVC) remained stable in the population from the 2008-2009 season to the 2009-2010 season reaching 20.6% and 20.8% respectively. Overall pandemic IVC in the French population is estimated to be 11.1% (CI95%: 9.8 - 12.4). The highest pandemic IVC was observed in the 0-4 years age group. For individuals with health conditions associated with higher risk of influenza, pandemic IVC was estimated to be 12.2% (CI95%: 9.8 - 15.1). The main determinants associated with pandemic influenza vaccine uptake were: living in a household with a child < 5 years ORadj: 2.0 (CI95%: 1.3 - 3.1) or with two children < 5 years or more, ORadj: 2.7 (CI95%: 1.4 - 5.1), living in a household where the head of the family is university graduate (>2 years), ORadj: 2.5 (CI95%: 1.5 - 4.1), or has a higher professional and managerial occupation, ORadj: 3.0 (CI95%: 1.5 - 5.5) and being vaccinated against seasonal influenza, ORadj: 7.1 (CI95%: 5.1 - 10.0). Being an individual with higher risk for influenza was not a determinant for pandemic influenza vaccine uptake. These determinants are not the same as those for seasonal influenza vaccination.ConclusionsOverall A(H1N1)2009 influenza vaccine uptake remained low, particularly among individuals with higher risk for influenza and was lower than that observed for seasonal influenza. The reasons behind people's reluctance to be vaccinated need to be investigated further.

Some factors affecting the decision on non-mandatory vaccination in an influenza pandemic: comparison of pandemic (H1N1) and seasonal influenza vaccination

“…Deciding in favour of pandemic vaccination increased among those who were vaccinated against seasonal influenza. This result is in line with the findings of other studies (2,16,25,26,33). It seems that when deciding about pandemic immunization, people relied on their experiences with seasonal influenza vaccination and simply behaved as they were accustomed to do in a similar context.…”

“…In healthcare workers, the major barrier against being vaccinated against pandemic influenza was fear of side effects (1), which was more pronounced in those who received information on vaccine safety from television and radio (2). The vaccination rate was higher in people who also received seasonal influenza vaccination (1,2,8,18,25,26), in medical professionals (2,27), in older (2,8) and more educated people (25) and in males (8,25). We wanted to explore further what affected the decision about vaccination against pandemic influenza in the general Slovenian population and, additionally, to examine the importance of different psychological traits that may direct a person's behaviour in an ambiguous situation when the decision is very difficult.…”

Additive preventive effect of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines in the elderly

“…This rate was slightly lower than that reported in more recent studies in France. 5,6 This difference can be partly explained by the fact that most of the studies evaluating influenza vaccine were mail or telephone based. In addition, this study was performed before the H 5 N 1 epidemic alert in 2005 and the H 1 N 1 pandemic in 2009.…”

“…4 In France, a mail-based household survey found an influenza vaccine coverage rate of 70% in elderly people during the 2005-06 influenza season 5 and the estimate influenza vaccine coverage was 62.6% and 62.7% for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons according to a retrospective cross-sectional survey. 6 elderly people are at increased risk of influenza and pneumococcal diseases. Influenza increases clinical pneumococcal disease incidence.…”

Opinion about seasonal influenza vaccination among the general population 3 years after the A(H1N1)pdm2009 influenza pandemic

“…To our knowledge, few studies haveaddressed the question of opinions onvaccination against the seasonal flu. Most studies addressvaccination acceptability based onimmunization coverage rates of: healthcare workers (12,27,28), individualstargeted by the recommendations (29)(30)(31) or the general population (28,32,33). In (35).…”