Paediatricians� perspectives on the use of pneumococcal vaccine in healthy and asthmatic children.

• Autores: T. Karakas, Ü. Murat Sahiner, O.U Soyer, E. Civelek, H. Cokugras, B. Enis Sekerel
• Localización: Allergologia et immunopathologia: International journal for clinical and investigate allergology and clinical immunology, ISSN-e 1578-1267, ISSN 0301-0546, Vol. 38, Nº. 5, 2010, págs. 241-245
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Background Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines were developed in recent decades to reduce the burden of pneumococcal diseases. Little is known about paediatricians� perspectives on the use of pneumococcal vaccine.

    Objective We aimed to examine physicians� self-reported beliefs and attitudes about the pneumococcal vaccine and their daily clinical practice concerning immunisation against pneumococci in healthy and asthmatic children before the introduction of a nationwide vaccination program.

    Methods A questionnaire survey was applied to the paediatricians attending a national paediatrics congress in 2008.

    Results Of the 265 paediatricians, 167 responded to the questionnaire. Most (74.5%) believed that antimicrobial resistance could be reduced with the use of the vaccine. 88.5% of the paediatricians declared the pneumococcal vaccine to be a safe vaccine and agreed that the polysaccharide conjugate vaccine-7 should be added to the national vaccination programme. Nearly half of the paediatricians believed that asthmatic children vaccinated with pneumococci had fewer and less severe asthma attacks. 40.0% of the responders stated that the pneumococcal vaccine should be reserved for severe asthmatic children. As the duration of experience increases, the number of patients evaluated per week decreases, and the physicians working in the outpatient clinics tend to vaccinate all children.

    Conclusion Despite the paediatricians� belief in the necessity and importance of the pneumococcal vaccine, none of the examined factors influenced their clinical practice. As the asthma guidelines become clearer regarding the effect of pneumococcal diseases in asthmatics, the perspective of paediatricians may evolve towards greater immunisation.