title: Paediatrician beliefs and practices around influenza vaccination.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The uptake of influenza vaccination in children with high-risk medical conditions continues to be low in Australia and internationally. We aimed to determine Australian paediatricians' beliefs and practices around the influenza vaccination of children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was conducted as a cross sectional survey of paediatricians from two tertiary paediatric hospitals in Sydney.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 101 participants. Influenza vaccination was not prioritised compared with other vaccines and clinical issues, with fewer than half of respondents strongly agreeing that influenza vaccination was useful. Paediatricians' knowledge of guidelines and recommendations in this area was suboptimal. Interventions thought most likely to improve vaccine coverage included better education of doctors, greater vaccine availability in outpatient clinics and automated reminder systems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The inclusion of influenza vaccine on the standard Australian immunisation schedule may be required to improve vaccine coverage in high-risk children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Schools of Women's and Children's Health and, University of New South Wales Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: James
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8908-8464
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: P Newcombe
authors.affiliation: Schools of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Rajneesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Schools of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seale
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Schools of Women's and Children's Health and, University of New South Wales Medicine, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palasanthiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.|Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.|Menzies School of Health Research and Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Snelling
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000072143:Pediatricians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines
keywords: children; high risk; influenza; paediatricians; vaccine