Monkeypox Knowledge and Vaccine Hesitancy of Czech Healthcare Workers: A Health Belief Model (HBM)-Based Study

Abstract

Background: The recent human monkeypox virus (HMPXV) outbreak in non-endemic countries that started in May 2022 has raised concerns among public health authorities worldwide. Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a decisive role during epidemics in transmitting accurate information to the public and motivating them to pursue protective behaviours, including immunisation. Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in the Czech Republic in September 2022 to evaluate HMPXV-related knowledge and vaccination perceptions among HCWs. The study utilised a digital self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) to collect data from the target population. The proposed SAQ inquired about participants’ sociodemographic and anamnestic characteristics, perceived knowledge of HMPXV, factual knowledge, and vaccination perceptions according to the health belief model (HBM). Results: A total of 341 participants were included in this study; most of them were females (88.9%), allied HCWs (89.4%), heterosexuals (87.1%), married (61.9%), and vaccinated against COVID-19 (91.2%). Only 8.8% of the participants agreed to receive vaccination against HMPXV; 44.9% rejected it, while 46.3% were hesitant. While digital news portals (47.5%) and social media (25.8%) were among the most utilised sources of information about HMPXV, the scientific journals (5.6%), ECDC (5%), and the U.S. CDC (1.5%) were the least common sources. The participants demonstrated suboptimal levels of factual knowledge, especially regarding HMPXV vaccines (1.5 ± 1.2 (0–4)) and treatments (0.9 ± 0.9 (0–4)). Additionally, several misconceptions were detectable among the participants, regarding topics such as the availability of effective vaccines and antivirals against HMPXV, the risk of vertical transmission, and homosexual stigmatisation. The HBM indicated that the cues to action and perceived susceptibility were the most important constructs to predict HMPXV vaccine acceptance. Conclusions: the findings of this study call upon public health practitioners and health policymakers in the Czech Republic to act accordingly in order to determine the drivers of vaccine hesitancy among Czech HCWs. Dedicated educational campaigns should aim to counter the HCWs’ misconceptions around HMPXV, and future studies should aim to explore the prevalence and drivers of HMPXV vaccine hesitancy among the general population.

Public awareness, specific knowledge, and worry about mpox (monkeypox): A preliminary community-based study in Shenzhen, China

“…Moreover, the worrying state along with the increased awareness of mpox also reminds all community health professionals to focus on psychological issues related to health education. Previous study findings suggested that suboptimal level of mpox-related knowledge could be accompanied by a high proportion of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers ( 45 ). It's urgently needed to conduct further investigations on the impact of public awareness, knowledge, and worry on attitudes toward mpox vaccination based on the present study sample of the general population.…”

Public Knowledge and Perceptions about the Emerging Human Mpox in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In the current study, the participants showed a low median knowledge score (4.0 out of 15.0, with around half of them knowing the mpox mode of transmission and its symptoms. The general population’s knowledge about mpox was assessed in various studies, including in the Kurdistan-region of Iraq, Lebanon, and Czech, where it was found that those studies participants had insufficient knowledge [ 21 , 23 , 24 ]. While in studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the participants had satisfactory knowledge [ 3 , 4 , 22 ].…”

“…This is consistent with similar studies conducted in eight Middle Eastern countries [ 20 ], as well as in the Kurdistan region of Iraq [ 21 ], Lebanon [ 23 ] and Saudi Arabia [ 4 ]. Additionally, in Czeck, social media was the second-most utilized source of information about human mpox [ 24 ]. The increase in the reliance on social media platforms as a source of health-related information needs to be addressed by governments and healthcare providers because these platforms are not a reliable source of health information [ 27 ].…”

Monkeypox Cross-Sectional Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Willingness to Vaccinate among University Students in Pakistan

“…The research instrument was adapted from previous studies [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. The questionnaire was drafted in English and designed using Google Forms.…”