title: [Vaccination of general practitioners].
abstract: The vaccination of general practitioners represents significant problems for two reasons: they can be a reservoir of infectious diseases for the patients they are in contact with and their attitudes towards vaccination can influence their preventative acts and consequently the vaccination coverage of the population. The anti-influenza vaccination of the care providers is associated with a decrease of mortality amongst patients. Hepatitis B is one of the most frequent professional occupational infectious diseases and vaccination is necessary for all the professionals at risk. Concerning the whooping-cough we can observe at the present time an increase in the number of cases. The "Conseil Supérieur d'Hygiène" advises to propose vaccination of the people in contact with infants and people who have not HAD vaccination supplements in childhood. The rubella vaccination for unprotected women is also recommended for the care providers, to avoid the risk of infection and the possible implications for the foetus. The existing data in Belgium on the vaccination coverage of general practitioners is poor, but leads us to believe there is an insufficient vaccination coverage against these diseases. A study will shortly be undertaken to analyze the vaccination status of the Belgian French-speaking doctors and to further analyse their reasoning for any possible non-vaccination.
authors.affiliation: DMG-ULB.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Semaille
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Van Laethem
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D014611:Vaccination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*