Acceptance of pregnant women's vaccination against pertussis among French women and health professionals: PREVACOQ-1 and -2 studies

Abstract

ObjectivesProtection of French young infants against pertussis only relies on their relatives’ vaccination. The alternative is vaccination of pregnant women against pertussis (cocooning strategy), but this strategy is not yet recommended in France. We assessed the acceptance of this strategy among French postpartum women and health professionals. Patients and methodsWe performed a multicenter survey in 2016 among postpartum women and health professionals (family physicians, obstetricians-gynecologists, midwives, and medical students) to determine the acceptance of anti-pertussis vaccination. We evaluated knowledge, perception, and attitude towards vaccination to identify factors associated with acceptance. ResultsQuestionnaires were completed by 52% (1208/2337) of women and 40% (694/1754) of health professionals. Seventy-seven per cent of women (95% CI: 74–79) and 93% of health professionals (95% CI: 91–95) were favorable to anti-pertussis vaccination of pregnant women. Thirty-three per cent (227/687) of health professionals believed that pertussis induced life-long immunity and 20% (136/687) of them were not aware of the cocooning strategy. In multivariate analysis, factors associated with acceptance among women were younger age, higher knowledge, having received advice during pregnancy, being vaccinated against influenza, and having never refused any vaccine; among health professionals, factors associated with acceptance were belief that inactivated vaccines are obstetrically safe, regular practice of influenza vaccination in pregnant women, pertussis cocooning strategy, and never prescribing preventive homeopathy for influenza. ConclusionVaccination of pregnant women against pertussis should be well-accepted by informed mothers and health professionals. If this strategy were to be implemented in France, efforts should be made towards adequate information.