Mandatory meningococcal vaccine, and other recommended immunisations: Uptake, barriers, and facilitators among health care workers and trainees at Hajj

Badahdah, Al-Mamoon; Alfelali, Mohammad; Alqahtani, Amani S; Alsharif, Saeed; Barasheed, Osamah; Rashid, Harunor

An anonymous cross-sectional online survey was conducted among HCWs and trainees who were employed in Saudi Arabia and worked or volunteered during the Hajj 2015-2017. The survey was distributed among HCWs, including trainees and students who volunteered at Hajj, through their line managers, or by visiting their hospitals and healthcare centres in Makkah and Mina, a major Hajj spot at the outskirt of Makkah. The survey link was sent to the potential participants via short message service, WhatsApp Messenger or email. Overseas HCWs who accompanied the pilgrims or those who work in foreign Hajj medical missions were excluded. Following invitation, the potential respondents acknowledged their acceptance to participate electronically before starting to fill the e-form. The questionnaire included questions about their demographics such as age, gender, current employment, presence or absence of chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, bronchial asthma, other lung or heart diseases, and malignancies. Any participant reporting at least one of these underlying medical conditions and/or aged ≥ 65 years was considered "at increased risk". The questionnaire then asked if the HCWs received meningococcal, influenza and pneumococcal vaccines as a part of their preparation for secondment at Hajj. It also asked about the reasons for receipt or non-receipt of vaccines. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) v. 25 .0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, United States). Pearson's χ 2 test was used to compare categorical variables and "risk estimate" statistics was used to calculate odds ratio (OR). A two-tailed P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.