Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

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January 24, 2003

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"National Survey Finds Nurses Lack Critical Knowledge About Smallpox Vaccination" NNii Special Release(01/23/2003)

A national survey of nurses recently conducted by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii) found that there is an immediate need to educate nurses about the smallpox vaccine.  The majority of the 2,661 practicing nurses surveyed do support President Bush's smallpox vaccination plan; however, most nurses lack critical knowledge about when the vaccine can be administered.  The survey found that only 21 percent of the respondents believe that a vaccine given within a few days of exposure to smallpox would prevent the disease, while 34 percent believe the vaccine would not prevent the disease and 45 percent said they did not know.  In fact, the vaccine is considered effective if administered within four days of exposure.  Younger nurses and nurses with less vaccine experience were less likely to support the president's plan, less willing to take the vaccine themselves, and were more likely to have misconceptions about the smallpox vaccine.  Nurses will figure prominently in the current federal government plan to reintroduce the smallpox vaccine in the United States, and the study highlights the need to ensure that they are well educated about the vaccine.  The study can be found on the NNii Web site, at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.  A Jan. 23, 2003, Washington Post article on the new study quoted Dr. Louis Cooper, interim director of NNii, as saying that "if nurses don't understand how the smallpox vaccine works, we can be confident that the general public doesn't either."

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