title: Attitudes, knowledge and perceptions towards whooping cough and pertussis vaccine in hospitalized adults.
abstract: Whooping cough or pertussis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for adults and children around the world. There has been a rise in pertussis-related deaths in the elderly; pertussis vaccination is not currently routinely recommended in adults, excepting new parents and other adults household members including grandparents and care-givers of young children. Currently, there is lack of clear vaccine recommendations after the age of 50 years. Given the increase in adult pertussis, adult vaccine recommendations are a policy consideration. The study surveyed a convenience sample of patients previously recruited in a case control study designed to examine the burden of influenza with and without AMI in adults aged ≥ 40 years. Our findings showed that only 9.6% had received the pertussis vaccination within the past five years and 79.4% of participants had no knowledge of the pertussis adult booster vaccine, and 30.7% of participants who had regular contact with children under the age of two years in the past 12 months. The results showed that even though there is general acceptance of prevention by vaccines, there is low awareness about pertussis vaccination. This lack of knowledge presents a barrier against pertussis vaccination thus it is imperative that any future adult immunisation policy recommendations around pertussis vaccine include awareness programs in the target population.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine & Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University Townsville, Australia. Electronic address: Iman.ridda@jcu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ridda
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhanhai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia; National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia.
authors.forename: C Raina
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Macintyre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010567:Pertussis Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D010567:Pertussis Vaccine
keywords: Attitudes; Hospitalized adults; Knowledge; Pertussis vaccine; Whooping cough