A cross-sectional study to investigate pneumococcal vaccination in the elderly in a low income county: patient knowledge, awareness, and attitudes of vaccination and prevalence rates by socioeconomic status

Pneumococcal disease burden in high-risk older adults: Exploring impact of comorbidities, long-term care facilities, antibiotic resistance, and immunization policies through a narrative literature review

This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of literature on pneumococcal disease burden in high-risk older adults aged ≥65 with focus on impact of comorbidities, long-term care facilities (LTCFs), antibiotic resistance, and vaccination policies across various countries. Research showed that the disease burden and the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pneumococci was higher in the elderly, particularly those residing in LTCFs, and with comorbidities. These individuals are at high risk of infection with antibiotic-resistant serotypes 10A, 11A, and 15B. The vaccination strategies and national guidelines for pneumococcal vaccines in the elderly vary across countries. Some countries focus on single-dose strategies, while others recommend sequential vaccinations with varying intervals. Although vaccination policies are well-established for the elderly, they are not as well-established for high-risk elderly groups, and this review underscores the need for more tailored vaccination strategies for these groups.

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus Vaccination among Tourists in a High-Prevalence Area (Italy, 2023): A Cross-Sectional Study

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) represents a potential health threat for tourists in high-risk areas, including the Dolomite Mountains in northeastern Italy. The present questionnaire-based survey was, therefore, designed in order to assess knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices (KAP) in a convenience sample of Italian tourists visiting the Dolomite Mountains, who were recruited through online discussion groups. A total of 942 participants (39.2% males, with 60.2% aged under 50) filled in the anonymous survey from 28 March 2023 to 20 June 2023. Overall, 24.1% of participants were vaccinated against TBE; 13.8% claimed to have previously had tick bites, but no cases of TBE were reported. The general understanding of TBE was relatively low; while 79.9% of participants acknowledged TBE as a potentially severe disease, its occurrence was acknowledged as high/rather high or very high in the Dolomites area by only 51.6% of respondents. Factors associated with the TBE vaccine were assessed by the calculation of adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals through a logistic regression analysis model. Living in areas considered at high risk for TBE (aOR 3.010, 95%CI 2.062-4.394), better knowledge on tick-borne disorders (aOR 1.515, 95%CI 1.071-2.142), high risk perception regarding tick-borne infections (aOR 2.566, 95%CI 1.806-3.646), a favorable attitude toward vaccinations (aOR 3.824, 95%CI 1.774-8.224), and a tick bite(s) in a previous season (aOR 5.479, 95%CI 3.582-8.382) were characterized as being positively associated with TBE vaccination uptake. Conversely, being <50 years old (aOR 0.646, 95%CI, 0.458-0.913) and with a higher risk perception regarding the TBE vaccine (aOR 0.541, 95%CI 0.379-0.772) were identified as the main barriers to vaccination. In summary, tourists to the high-risk area of the Dolomites largely underestimate the potential occurrence of TBE. Even though the uptake of the TBE vaccine in this research was in line with European data, public health communication on TBE is required in order to improve acceptance of this effective preventive option.

Pneumococcal vaccination coverage and adherence to recommended dosing schedules in adults: a repeated cross-sectional study of the INTEGO morbidity registry

BACKGROUND

Since 2014, Belgium's Superior Health Council has recommended pneumococcal vaccination for adults aged 19-85 years at increased risk for pneumococcal diseases with a specific vaccine administration sequence and timing. Currently, Belgium has no publicly funded adult pneumococcal vaccination program. This study investigated the seasonal pneumococcal vaccination trends, evolution of vaccination coverage and adherence to the 2014 recommendations.

METHODS

INTEGO is a general practice morbidity registry in Flanders (Belgium) that represents 102 general practice centres and comprised over 300.000 patients in 2021. A repeated cross-sectional study was performed for the period between 2017 and 2021. Using adjusted odds ratios computed via multiple logistic regression, the association between an individual's characteristics (gender, age, comorbidities, influenza vaccination status and socioeconomic status) and schedule-adherent pneumococcal vaccination status was assessed.

RESULTS

Pneumococcal vaccination coincided with seasonal flu vaccination. The vaccination coverage in the population at risk decreased from 21% in 2017 to 18.2% in 2018 and then started to increase to 23.6% in 2021. Coverage in 2021 was highest for high-risk adults (33.8%) followed by 50- to 85-year-olds with comorbidities (25.5%) and healthy 65- to 85-year-olds (18.7%). In 2021, 56.3% of the high-risk adults, 74.6% of the 50+ with comorbidities persons, and 74% of the 65+ healthy persons had an adherent vaccination schedule. Persons with a lower socioeconomic status had an adjusted odds ratio of 0.92 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.87-0.97) for primary vaccination, 0.67 (95% CI 0.60-0.75) for adherence to the recommended second vaccination if the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine was administered first and 0.86 (95% CI 0.76-0.97) if the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine was administered first.

CONCLUSION

Pneumococcal vaccine coverage is slowly increasing in Flanders, displaying seasonal peaks in sync with influenza vaccination campaigns. However, with less than one-fourth of the target population vaccinated, less than 60% high-risk and approximately 74% of 50 + with comorbidities and 65+ healthy persons with an adherent schedule, there is still much room for improvement. Furthermore, adults with poor socioeconomic status had lower odds of primary vaccination and schedule adherence, demonstrating the need for a publicly funded program in Belgium to ensure equitable access.

Does information by pharmacists convince the public to get vaccinated for pneumococcal disease and herpes zoster?

Background

Pneumococcal diseases (PN) and herpes zoster (HZ) are preventable infections in the adult population.

Aims

This study aimed to identify the vaccination rates at 1 year after pharmacist-led provision of information in the community. The objectives were to reveal the reasons for not being vaccinated and to determine opinions and awareness of PN and HZ vaccination among public.

Methods

A prospective study was conducted in five social and solidarity centres in Turkey. Participants were educated by a pharmacist about PN and HZ diseases, vaccinations and reimbursement status, respectively. All participants were followed by telephone 1 year after to determine their vaccination status.

Results

A total of 155 participants (72.9% male; mean age was 68.72 ± 9.04 years) were included. With respect to PN and HZ vaccines, it was found that 40% and 12.7% of participants knew about the respective vaccines. Following the pharmacist’s educational session, 52.9% and 51.6% were willing to have the respective vaccine, but only 5.7% and 0.8% respectively got vaccinated 1 year after the educational session. Perceived disease severity, provision of information by a pharmacist, and reimbursement status of the vaccines were not associated with the vaccination rates.

Conclusions

The public obtain information on vaccines from friends and family members, which may result in misinformation and inappropriate behaviour in vaccination. Although educational sessions provided by pharmacists did not increase the actual vaccination rates for PN and HZ, public willingness to vaccination has increased.

The impact of pharmacist-led educational intervention on pneumococcal vaccine awareness and acceptance among elderly in Jordan

Limited data exist regarding pneumococcal vaccination coverage among the elderly in Middle Eastern countries including Jordan. The pharmacists' role in improving vaccine acceptance has become increasingly evident. Yet, large-scale studies of the assessment of the pharmacists' role on pneumococcal vaccines acceptance among the elderly are scarce. Hence, we assessed for the first time the current state of knowledge and pneumococcal vaccination coverage among the elderly and the role of pharmacist-led educational intervention on the attitude, awareness, vaccine acceptance, and prompts for physician consultation regarding pneumococcal vaccines in Jordan. This interventional study enrolled 916 randomly selected adults aged ≥ 65 years in Amman, Jordan. We showed that only 3.9% of the participants have ever heard about pneumococcal disease with 0.5% vaccination coverage. Immediately after educational intervention, 21.7% of the participants perceived pneumococcal disease as a threat, 52.1% of them believed in the importance of the vaccine, and 93.9% of them were willing to consult a physician in this regard. At a two-month follow-up, 30.5% had a positive attitude toward the vaccine and 36% consulted their physician regarding the vaccine. Vaccination coverage was significantly increased to 1.9% (P value = 0.008). The main obstacles against vaccination were a negative attitude and that physicians had not recommended the vaccine. Vaccine uptake was significantly associated with physician consultation (P value = 0.011). Insurance, employment, attitude, and reading the booklet significantly predicted physician consultation. In conclusion, very low pneumococcal vaccination coverage was observed among the elderly in Jordan. Enrollment of pharmacists in immunization education and recommendation is suggested to improve pneumococcal vaccine coverage among the elderly in Jordan.

Addressing common barriers in adult immunizations: a review of interventions

Introduction: Low levels of adult vaccination have been documented in the United States and globally. Research has been conducted to identify reasons for low immunization rates; however, the most useful studies are those that implemented interventions for identified barriers to evaluate their impact on rates of immunization. Identifying successful interventions provides immunization providers with evidence-based methods that can be utilized to increase the uptake of recommended vaccines.Areas covered: This review focuses on known barriers to adult immunizations and the interventions available in the literature to overcome these barriers. It outlines interventions that may increase vaccine uptake in the adult population through addressing barriers related to lack of vaccine knowledge, cost, access, provider and practice-based challenges, and racial and ethnic disparities.Expert opinion: Improving adult immunization rates is critical to protecting a population against vaccine-preventable diseases. Those interventions that appeared to increase immunization rates in the adult population included education and reminders about vaccination using text and telephone calls, low-cost or subsidized vaccines, easy access to immunization services, and understanding the cultural and social needs of different racial and ethnic populations. It is likely that an evidence-based multimodal approach using different categories of interventions is necessary to significantly improve adult immunization rates.

Immunisation status screening in the emergency department: Why are we forgetting the elderly?

BACKGROUND

Pneumonia is one of the most common reasons patients over the age of 65 years present to the Emergency Department (ED). There is a 23-valent pneumococcal vaccine (23vPPV) available under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) with demonstrated 61-71% effectiveness against Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD), but only 51% of adults aged over 65 years are vaccinated in Australia.

METHODS

Short semi-structured interviews were conducted with emergency nurses working across a Local Health District in Sydney New South Wales (n=9) in order to determine their knowledge, behaviour and attitudes towards immunisation status screening in the elderly who present to the ED with pneumonia. Questions were structured to the COM-B Model (capability, opportunity and motivation to change behaviour), and a thematic analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

There were three major themes identified: (1) The importance of routinisation, (2) Low knowledge levels and, (3) The 'vaccination is for children' heuristic, as well as suggestions for future interventions to improve screening.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings clarify how to improve vaccine uptake amongst this vulnerable cohort. They suggest that emergency departments should provide education to nurses. In addition, checklists/tick boxes can prompt nurses whilst conducting routine work, which may lead to increased vaccination uptake.

Factors associated with pneumococcal vaccination among an urban elderly population in China

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the coverage of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23-PPV) in the Chinese urban elderly population and to understand the attitudes, knowledge and beliefs of this population toward the 23-PPV vaccination.

METHODS

A cross-sectional approach was employed to survey the willingness of this population to receive the 23-PPV vaccination. Two thousand 9 hundred 2 six subjects over the age of 60 y were enrolled via a multi-stage random sampling method from the urban community population in Hangzhou, China. The relationships between the variables and the willingness to receive the 23-PPV vaccination were computed as odds ratios (ORs) by multivariate analysis.

RESULTS

Of the participants, 21.77% were willing to undergo 23-PPV vaccination, and 61.65% of the subjects agreed that pneumonia is a serious disease among elderly people. The rate of reasonable perceptions about vaccination, including the perception about vaccine efficacy and safety, among the subjects was below 50%. Only 1.23% of subjects had been vaccinated with 23-PPV, and a similarly low rate was observed for the seasonal influenza vaccine (4.17%). The factors that were independently related to the willingness to receive the 23-PPV vaccine included consensus with the hazards of pneumonia (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.28 - 2.17), the safety of vaccination (OR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.54 - 2.59), advice about the 23-PPV vaccination from family members (OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.39 - 4.40), influenza vaccination history (OR = 2.57, 95% CI: 1.66 - 3.98) and pneumococcal vaccination history (OR = 7.48, 95% CI: 2.4-22.92).

CONCLUSION

The administration of the 23-PPV vaccine among the urban elderly population is not optimistic in China. Emphasis on persuasion from families and the improvement of knowledge about vaccination might encourage elderly people to get the 23-PPV vaccination. Suggestions from physicians did not affect the participants' willingness to get the 23-PPV vaccination in multivariate analysis, but elderly people typically visited the Community Health Center (CHC) in their residential districts, and thus, systematic encouragement from healthcare physicians might be the key to increasing 23-PPV vaccination.