title: Low measles vaccination coverage among medical residents in Marseille, France: reasons for non-vaccination, March 2013.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During 2008-12, France and Europe experienced large measles outbreaks, involving also healthcare workers (HCW). We aimed to estimate the vaccination coverage (VC) of measles among medical residents of the University of Aix/Marseille, in South-Eastern France.
  
  
  METHODS
  In March 2013, we conducted a cross-sectional study among all medical residents of the Medical Faculty of Aix/Marseille. We used a self-administered questionnaire to collect information on self-reported VC and reasons for vaccination and non-vaccination. We compared proportions, using the chi-squared test and prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1152 eligible residents, 703 (61%) participated in the study and 95 (14%; 95% CI: 12-17%) reported having had measles in the past. Of all participants, 613 (93%; 95% CI: 91-95%) reported having been vaccinated against measles and 389 (76%; 95% CI: 73-80%) received two doses. Only 268 (38%) reported having visited an occupational health physician. Vaccinated individuals were more likely to report easy access to vaccination as the main motivation for measles vaccination, compared with unvaccinated residents (435; 71% and 21; 45%; P < 0.001, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VC among the medical residents of the University of Aix/Marseille was well below the recommended 95% coverage for two doses of measles vaccination. The majority of the study participants had not visited an occupational health doctor. Lack of easy access seems to represent major barriers to measles vaccination. We recommend that the student union, occupational health services and hospitals co-operate and address these problems in order to improve VC in this group.
authors: 1 European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden 2 Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Marseille, France teija.korhonen@hotmail.fi.
authors: Teija
authors: T
authors: Korhonen
authors: 2 Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Marseille, France.
authors: Ariane
authors: A
authors: Neveu
authors: 2 Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Marseille, France.
authors: Alexis
authors: A
authors: Armengaud
authors: 2 Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Marseille, France.
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Six
authors: 1 European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden 3 French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Saint-Maurice, France.
authors: Kostas
authors: K
authors: Danis
authors: 2 Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire, InVS), Marseille, France.
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Malfait
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014611:Vaccination / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D008458:Measles Vaccine