Yellow fever vaccination: how much do travelers from Eastern India know?

Introduction: International tourism has grown tremendously in the past 2-3 decades in India resulting in exposure of travelers to varied spectrum of diseases prevalent in different parts of the world. Immunization plays a prominent role in protection of the exposed individuals. The objective of the present study was to assess the awareness and knowledge regarding yellow fever and other travel vaccinations amongst travelers of eastern India. Materials and methods: In the present cross-sectional study, participants attending Yellow Fever Vaccination Clinic at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, during August-September 2018 were approached. Newly registered participants aged 15 y and above were interviewed consecutively till the required sample size of 300 was fulfilled. Awareness and knowledge regarding travel vaccinations and their adverse effects were assessed with pretested structured interview schedule. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were done to assess the association of various factors with awareness of travel vaccinations. Results: Among the participants, most of them were males (90.7%), belonged to the age group of 15-45 y (87.3%), married (64.3%), graduates (19%), and were working (78.3%). Most of the participants were traveling to South Africa (85.4%). Only 57.3% participants were aware of any travel vaccinations. Only 37.5% participants knew that yellow fever vaccine confers lifelong immunity. On multivariate logistic regression higher education, working occupation and history of previous vaccination were significantly associated with awareness of travel vaccinations. Conclusion: Awareness regarding travel vaccinations is important to prevent fatal diseases like yellow fever. Vital information pertaining to diseases in different locations and availability of vaccines for prevention needs to be disseminated to the travelers to prevent occurrence of travel bound diseases.