Paediatricians' perspectives on the use of pneumococcal vaccine in healthy and asthmatic children

Background: Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines were developed in recent decades to reduce the burden of pneumococcal diseases. Little is known about paediatricians' perspectives on the use of pneumococcal vaccine. Objective: We aimed to examine physicians' self-reported beliefs and attitudes about the pneumococcal vaccine and their daily clinical practice concerning immunisation against pneumococci in healthy and asthmatic children before the introduction of a nationwide vaccination program. Methods: A questionnaire survey was applied to the paediatricians attending a national paediatrics congress in 2008. Results: Of the 265 paediatricians, 167 responded to the questionnaire. Most (74.5%) believed that antimicrobial resistance could be reduced with the use of the vaccine. 88.5% of the paediatricians declared the pneumococcal vaccine to be a safe vaccine and agreed that the polysaccharide conjugate vaccine-7 should be added to the national vaccination programme. Nearly half of the paediatricians believed that asthmatic children vaccinated with pneumococci had fewer and less severe asthma attacks. 40.0% of the responders stated that the pneumococcal vaccine should be reserved for severe asthmatic children. As the duration of experience increases, the number of patients evaluated per week decreases, and the physicians working in the outpatient clinics tend to vaccinate all children. Conclusion: Despite the paediatricians' belief in the necessity and importance of the pneumococcal vaccine, none of the examined factors influenced their clinical practice. As the asthma guidelines become clearer regarding the effect of pneumococcal diseases in asthmatics, the perspective of paediatricians may evolve towards greater immunisation. (C) 2009 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.