Influenza vaccination in north Indian patients with heart failure

BACKGROUND: No data exists regarding the uptake of influenza vaccination in patients with heart failure (HF) in India. The present study was designed to assess the uptake, knowledge, attitude and practices of the Indian HF patients towards influenza vaccination. METHODS AND RESULTS: Five-hundred patients with acute/chronic HF were approached for a personal interview and responses to an interview recorded in a pre-defined questionnaire depicting their knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding influenza vaccination. Of the 500 approached, 320 (64%, 174 male, age 3-90 years) consented to participate in the survey. Only 7.5% (n=24) knew of influenza as an illness with adverse potential consequences for themselves or their family. Seventeen (5.3%) were aware of potentially serious nature of influenza and 40 (12.5%) knew of the availability of a vaccine against it and its local availability. However only 14 (4.4%) had actually received the vaccine 1-2 times in the past 5 years. Only 21 (6.56%) had been prescribed influenza vaccine by their respective physicians. Reasons for declining vaccination included misperceptions about safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Most of the participants, however, had not been prescribed vaccination at all. CONCLUSIONS: Poor influenza vaccination rates in HF mandate intense efforts to improve vaccination rates.