Aim
Scepticism and negative attitudes toward vaccination are growing, generating the risk of decreasing vaccination coverage, with potential impact on the individual and community. Our aim was to ...obtain the first reliable national assessment of attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination among Slovenia’s general population and explore their socio-demographic determinants.
Subject and methods
A cross-sectional survey was performed in a random sample of the general population. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify factors independently associated with positive attitudes toward the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination.
Results
In our survey, 8590 individuals aged 25–74 years participated; the overall response rate was 55%. Approximately two-thirds of participants expressed positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination (64.9% and 67.6%, respectively). However, almost one-third (31.0%) of them expressed a fear of vaccination because of side effects. Two predictors for positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination were higher social class and participation in preventive examinations. Factors associated with lower odds for a positive attitude toward the safety of vaccination included female sex, minors in the household, and average assessment of health status.
Conclusion
Our study contributed an important insight into the Slovenian attitude toward vaccination among the general population. It showed that there are some socio-demographic determinants that are related to attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination. There is a need to address public concerns regarding vaccination in order to increase and maintain optimal coverage rates by implementing comprehensive communication strategies.
Prioritisation of elderly people in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns aimed at reducing severe outcomes in this group. Using EU/EEA surveillance and vaccination uptake, we estimated the risk ratio of ...case, hospitalisation and death notifications in people 80 years and older compared with 25-59-year-olds. Highest impact was observed for full vaccination uptake 80% or higher with reductions in notification rates of cases up to 65% (IRR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.13-0.99), hospitalisations up to 78% (IRR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.13-0.37) and deaths up to 84% (IRR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.13-0.20).
Highlights • We tested sera from 3259 Slovenian women for 15 HPV type specific antibodies. • Seropositivity for any of 11 hr-HPV and any of 4 lr-HPV types was 59.2% and 33.1%. • Seropositivity for at ...least one of the HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 was 40.8%. • Our estimated HPV16 seroprevalence (25.2%) was higher than in other studies. • We show a substantial lifetime sexual exposure to HPV types included in vaccines.
Abstract Background Serology for human papillomaviruses (HPV) types -16 and -18 is established as an important tool for studies of HPV vaccinology and epidemiology. However, as there are a large ...number of oncogenic genital types of HPV there is a need for development of high-throughput, validated HPV serological assays that can be used for more comprehensive seroepidemiological studies and for research on multivalent HPV vaccines. Objectives To develop a multiplexed pseudovirion-based serological assay (PsV-Luminex) encompassing 21 HPV types and validate the method by correlating the serology with the presence of type specific HPV DNA in cervical samples. Study design Cervical swabs from 3,291 unvaccinated women attending organized cervical screening in Slovenia were tested with 3 different HPV DNA detection methods and presence of HPV DNA compared to presence of serum antibodies to pseudovirions from 15 genital HPV types (HPV-6,-11,-16,-18,-31,-33,-35,-39,-45,-52,-56,-58,-59,-68,-73). Results On average 51% of the HPV DNA positive women were seropositive for the same HPV type that was detected in the cervical specimen. We found a strong correlation with presence of HPV DNA and antibodies to the same HPV type for 13/15 genital HPV types (median OR = 5.7, CI 95% = 2.4–12.9). HPV-52 serology failed the validation and HPV-11 serology could not be validated because only a single woman was positive for HPV-11 DNA. The correlation between serology and HPV DNA status tended to be stronger among women infected with single HPV type (median OR = 10.5, CI 95% = 2.4–48.4) than among women with multiple HPV infections (median OR = 4.6, CI 95% = 1.8–11.7). Conclusions A multiplexed HPV PsV-Luminex assay has been developed and validated to correlate with natural HPV infection for 13 HPV types, thus enabling more comprehensive studies in HPV epidemiology and vaccine research.
We conducted the first nationwide survey in Slovenia to measure and characterise vaccine confidence among mothers of young children. This survey measured confidence in routine vaccines for children ...<2 years of age and in the information sources about these vaccinations to provide baseline data for public health actions to maintain and improve vaccination coverage.
We randomly selected women giving birth in 2014–15 from the national perinatal information system (N = 39,497). Participants were asked to rate statements measuring vaccine confidence, including confidence in their child’s paediatrician, the Slovenian healthcare system, and different paediatric vaccination information sources. We estimated vaccine confidence with 95% confidence intervals (CI), for seven socio-demographic characteristics for mothers with young children. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to assess correlations between vaccine confidence and the confidence in the health system or child's paediatrician.
We sent out 3854 questionnaires, the response rate was 44.4%. While 46.8% (95% CI: 44.4–49.2%) mothers were confident in vaccines, 34.2% (95% CI: 32.0–36.6%) were undecided. We found a correlation (Spearman's rho = 0.457) between vaccine confidence and confidence in the child’s paediatrician. Mothers that were confident in paediatrician were more likely to be confident in vaccines (odds ratio: 7.7; 95% CI: 5.3–11.3). Overall, the most frequently trusted information source were physicians (84.6%). In contrast, among mothers not at all confident in vaccines, 51.9% reported friends as the trusted information source.
More than half of mothers had low vaccine confidence or were undecided regarding their confidence. While vaccination coverage in Slovenia is high, these levels warrant public health intervention, particularly with the undecided mothers. Communication strategies should focus first on undecided parents and involve physicians, who for many are the most trusted vaccine information source. Different approaches will likely be required for those who are not at all confident in vaccines.
Vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended for all healthcare workers including physicians in Slovenia to protect vulnerable individuals and reduce transmission of influenza viruses. The ...aim of our study is to determine the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccination among Slovenian physicians, to identify factors associated with that vaccination and assess their attitudes and beliefs regarding vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases.
A cross-sectional survey was performed among physician members of the Slovenian Medical Chamber. The link to the anonymous web-based questionnaire was sent to 8,297 physicians. We estimated the overall proportion of physicians who vaccinate against influenza, while the possible associations with collected explanatory variables were explored in univariate analyses.
The response rate to the survey was 10.8%. 75.9% (95% CI: 73.1-78.7%) physicians vaccinate themselves against influenza (regularly or occasionally) and 24.1% (95% CI: 21.2-26.8%) do not vaccinate (not any more or never). In univariate analysis only, the area of work was statistically significant when associated with vaccinating against influenza (p=0.002). Among physicians who expressed some misconceptions regarding vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases (it is better to overcome disease naturally as vaccines pose a higher risk than disease) the proportion of vaccinated against influenza was low (43.2%; 95% CI: 27.9-58.4%, 27.3%; 95% CI: 7.1-47.5%).
Not trusting in vaccination or professional recommendations regarding vaccination and some misconceptions regarding vaccination and vaccine-preventable diseases may influence the decision to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza among Slovenian physicians.
We estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) against severe COVID-19 during October 2021, using Slovenian surveillance data. For people fully vaccinated with any vaccine in age groups 18-49, 50-64, ≥ 65 ...years, VE was 86% (95% CI: 79-90), 89% (85-91), and 77% (74-81). Among ≥ 65 year-olds fully vaccinated with mRNA vaccines, VE decreased from 93% (95% CI: 88-96) in those vaccinated ≤ 3 months ago to 43% (95% CI: 30-54) in those vaccinated ≥ 6 months ago, suggesting the need for early boosters.
Highlights • Data associating influenza B lineages variation are scarce. • Patients with influenza B Victoria and Yamagata lineages infection were compared. • No significant differences were ...identified in clinical presentation. • Frequency of influenza B Victoria and Yamagata infection was age dependent.
Highlights ► We surveyed a sample of 4431 Slovenian women 20–64 years old screened for cervical cancer. ► Prevalence of cervical infection with any hr-HPV type examined was 12.9%. ► Prevalence of ...cervical infection with HPV16 was 3.5% and with HPV18 was 1.0%. ► HPV16 prevalence was the highest (41.9%) in women with high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. ► Our results provide baseline data for monitoring the impact of Slovenian HPV vaccination program.
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