The Knowledge and Uptake of Travel Vaccine Among Medical Doctors in a Tertiary Health Institution in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Travelers play a significant role in the spread of infectious diseases across international borders, through their travel patterns and behaviors. Travel maybe the only risk factor for infectious diseases that are well controlled in the travelers’ country of residence, particularly vaccine-preventable diseases. The role of vaccination among travelers is an essential component of the control of travel-associated infectious diseases. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and uptake of travel vaccine among medical doctors in Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2013 using quantitative method of data collection among 189 medical doctors. Epi Info™ statistical software package version 3.5.4 was used for data analysis and a P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULT: The mean age of the respondents was 33.8 ± 4.5 years, majority of the respondents (96.3%) were aware of travel vaccines with 45 (71.4%) of the 63 respondents who had embarked on international travel prior to the study had taken travel vaccine in their last travel. Knowledge of travel vaccination was found to have statistically significant relationship with uptake of travel vaccine (P = 0.013). CONCLUSION: This study has revealed the need to improve the knowledge and uptake of travel vaccine among medical doctors.