COMPLIANCE WITH VACCINATION AS AN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY MEASURE AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS AT AIN SHAMS UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS, CAIRO, EGYPT.

Introduction: Occupational safety and health is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the health, safety and welfare of people at work. Health care workers are at risk of exposure to vaccine preventable diseases. Employers and health care workers have a shared responsibility of preventing occupationally acquired infections and avoiding causing harm to patients by taking reasonable precautions to prevent transmission of diseases that could be prevented by vaccines. Vaccination programs are hence essential in infection prevention and control of diseases among health care workers. Aim of work: To identify the percentage of vaccinated health care workers in our study population and describe the factors associated with compliance to vaccination as an occupational safety measure. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study including 320 health care workers; 100 physicians, 154 nurses and 66 cleaning services from Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt. All subjects filled an interview questionnaire including socio-demographic and occupational background questions, history of vaccination, attitude towards the importance of vaccines and causes for
taking or not taking recommended vaccines. Health education materials in the form of poster and brochures were distributed on a day assigned for visiting the hospital for that purpose including a message on the importance of taking recommended vaccines, easy accessibility to areas offering the vaccines and possible complications of not
taking the vaccines. Statistical analysis was done using frequency tables and chi square test. Informed consent was obtained from participants. Results: Most of the study  participants were females, nurses, from Internal Medicine department with mean work duration of 14 years. About half of the sample reported that they took recommendedvaccines on time. The most common vaccines received by study population were hepatitis B and meningococcal vaccines. Most participants had a positive attitude towards vaccination as regards its importance and effectiveness. Job nature, level ofeducation, positive history of needle stick injuries and attendance of training courses on vaccine importance are significantly associated with positive history of receiving recommended vaccines on time. Conclusion: Raising the awareness of health care workers on the importance of taking recommended vaccines for the safety of themselvesand their patients is highly needed.