Awareness, Knowledge, and Vaccination Status of Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccination: A Comparative Study on International and Korean University Students

Abstract

Background: Meningococcal meningitis is a disease that can cause severe and possibly fatal side effects. To prevent the spread of meningococcal meningitis, which is a highly transmissible disease, 16 states in the USA mandate entering college students to receive meningococcal vaccination. Nevertheless, South Korea does not. This study aims to point out the importance of meningococcal vaccination by comparing the level of general knowledge and recognition of the requirement for vaccination among university students in the USA/Canada and Korea.Methods: The study was conducted using a self-filled questionnaire survey targeting international and Korean students at one of Korea's universities. The survey focused on topics such as knowledge of infectious diseases that can occur at the dormitory residence, infectious agents and routes of meningococcal meningitis infection and infection route, and students' intention to receive meningococcal vaccination.Results: International university students had a higher awareness of the importance of infectious disease prevention than Korean students (<i>P</i><0.05) and also had higher meningococcal-related knowledge (<i>P</i><0.05).International universities strongly recommend meningococcal vaccination compared to Korean universities (<i>P</i><0.05), and the actual vaccination rate was higher than that of domestic university students (<i>P</i><0.05).Conclusions: This study found that the awareness of meningococcal vaccination among Korean university students was lower than that of international university students, and the vaccination rate was also lower. Because students often do not get vaccinated due to low awareness of the meningococcal disease, health education programs can increase their knowledge about infectious diseases and awareness of vaccines. Thus, increasing the vaccination rate.