Australia's national zoster vaccination program: Knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of general practitioners

Harunor Rashid; Aditi Dey; Ramesh Manocha; Mohamed Tashani; Kristine Macartney; Frank Beard

doi:10.33321/cdi.2020.44.59

Australia's national zoster vaccination program: Knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of general practitioners

Commun Dis Intell (2018). 2020 Jul 15:44. doi: 10.33321/cdi.2020.44.59.

Authors

Harunor Rashid¹, Aditi Dey¹, Ramesh Manocha², Mohamed Tashani¹, Kristine Macartney¹, Frank Beard¹

Affiliations

¹ National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS), Kids Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Healthed, PO Box 500, Burwood, New South Wales, Australia.

PMID: 32664832
DOI: 10.33321/cdi.2020.44.59

Abstract

Objectives: To assess knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of Australian general practitioners (GPs) regarding herpes zoster vaccination under the National Immunisation Program (NIP) from 2016 for adults aged 70-79 years.

Design, setting, participants: National cross-sectional online survey of GPs, October-November 2017.

Outcome measures: Knowledge, attitudes and behaviour regarding zoster vaccination, including challenges experienced and recommendations for improvement.

Results: Of the 1026 GPs who responded (response rate 7.9%), 98.5% were aware that zoster vaccine is NIP-funded for adults aged 70-79 years and 85.4% that it is recommended for age 60-69 years; however, 51.3% incorrectly thought it is routinely recommended for age 50-59 years. A minority (4.6%) incorrectly believed that being immunocompromised is not a contraindication to zoster vaccination and 16.0% that it cannot be co-administered with influenza or pneumococcal vaccine. Almost half (48.9%) rarely or never reported zoster vaccination data to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Challenges perceived included lack of adequate information on vaccine contraindications; efficacy and safety concerns; and difficulty applying age criteria for NIP eligibility in general practice. Respondents indicated a desire for program expansion to include younger and older adult age groups.

Conclusion: This Australian GP survey, conducted one year after the introduction of the national zoster vaccination program, identified some knowledge gaps. A repeat survey of GPs is warranted to determine whether these issues persist, particularly regarding contraindication to vaccination for immunocompromised individuals. We encourage all GPs to offer zoster vaccination in line with current Australian evidence-based guidelines, particularly for the NIP-funded 70-79 years cohort; ensuring compliance with relevant contraindications; and reporting to AIR.

Keywords: general practitioner; herpes zoster; immunocompromise; national zoster vaccination program; post-herpetic neuralgia; zoster vaccine.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Australia
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
General Practice*
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Herpes Zoster / prevention & control*
Herpes Zoster Vaccine / administration & dosage*
Herpes Zoster Vaccine / standards*
Humans
Immunization Programs
Influenza Vaccines
Male
Middle Aged
Pneumococcal Vaccines / administration & dosage
Vaccination / statistics & numerical data

Substances

Herpes Zoster Vaccine
Influenza Vaccines
Pneumococcal Vaccines