Immunization in Medical Students: Knowledge and Practice

Abstract

Aim: To determine the knowledge and practice of fourth year medical students about vaccinations recommended by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) & World Health Organization (WHO) for medical students and health workers. Study design: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 4thyear MBBS students of Lahore Medical & Dental College (LMDC) in January, 2017. Methods: A structured questionnaire was used as the study tool to obtain background information of study participants as well as their knowledge and practices regarding recommended vaccination for health care workers and medical students. Data was entered, cleaned and analyzed in SPSS 19. Data was presented in the form of tables and graph and analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: Among 126 participants, 55% were female and 45% were male, with the mean age of 22 years. Majority had knowledge about need for mandatory vaccination for Hepatitis B(86%),while nearly half the number of participants(52%) named polio vaccination as necessary. Most students were vaccinated for Hepatitis B (74%), Tetanus (69%) and Polio(59%).According to study participants, the popular sources of information about vaccination for health care workers and medical students were internet (59%) and medical college study courses (52%). Conclusion: Educating medical students and promoting the importance of vaccination early in a medical student's career is relatively simple and should be integrated into the curriculum. Medical schools should adopt policies that encourage immunization of students, as unvaccinated health care personnel are at increased risk for infection and transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases.