title: Compliance with herpes zoster vaccination in young and adult individuals in two regions of Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this work was to explore the knowledge and acceptance of Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)-Herpes Zoster (HZ) vaccination in the general Italian population, where the HZ vaccine has not yet been distributed, using a prevalence study of subjects from two regions in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 3,173 individuals were interviewed using a questionnaire. The youngest age group (<or= 20 year) was composed of students interviewed at university. The middle age group (21-40 years) and the older age group (>or= 41 years) were interviewed by general practitioners in their office.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both regions, the majority of subjects had been infected with varicella, and only 165 (5.2%) subjects reported receiving the VZV vaccination. Regarding HZ, 2,749 (86.6%) individuals stated that they knew of the virus and 2,233 (70%) were willing to be vaccinated against HZ. The majority of people willing to be vaccinated were in the middle and older age groups (36.6% and 44.7%, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Compliance versus vaccination results were satisfactory and probably, with the upcoming availability of the HZ vaccine in Italy, adults will be favourably disposed towards vaccination.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology and Prevention Departmental Area, Local Health Agency NA2, Via Corrado Alvaro 8, 80074, Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parlato
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Romano Spica
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ciccozzi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farchi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gallè
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Onofrio
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liguori
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D053061:Herpes Zoster Vaccine; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053061:Herpes Zoster Vaccine