Dubé et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:128 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/128 R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access A(H1N1) pandemic influenza and its prevention by vaccination: Paediatricians’ opinions before and after the beginning of the vaccination campaign Eve Dubé1,2*, Defay Fannie2, Gilca Vladimir1,2, Bettinger A Julie3, Sauvageau Chantal1,2, Lavoie France2, Boucher D François2, McNeil Shelly4, Gemmill Ian5, Boulianne Nicole1,2 Abstract Background: In June 2009, the World Health Organization declared an A(H1N1) influenza pandemic. In October 2009, the largest vaccination campaign in Canadian history began. The aim of this study was to document paediatricians’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding A(H1N1) pandemic influenza and its prevention by vaccination just after the beginning of the A(H1N1) vaccination campaign and to compare the results with those obtained before campaign initiation. Methods: A self-administered mail-based questionnaire was sent to all Canadian paediatricians. Questionnaires were analyzed in two subsets: those received before and after the beginning of the vaccination campaign. Results: Overall the response rate was 50%. Respondents’ characteristics were comparable between the two subsets. Before the beginning of the campaign, 63% of paediatricians perceived A(H1N1) pandemic infection as a serious disease, that would occur frequently without vaccination compared to more than 75% after. Before the vaccination campaign, half of respondents or less thought that the A(H1N1) vaccine was safe (50%) and effective (35%) compared to 77% and 72% after. The proportion of paediatricians who reported they had received sufficient information on A (H1N1) vaccine increased from 31% before to 73% after the beginning of the vaccination campaign. The majority of respondents intended to get vaccinated against A(H1N1) influenza themselves (84% before and 92% after). Respondents’ intention to recommend the A(H1N1) vaccine to their patients increased from 80% before the beginning of the campaign to 92% after. In multivariate analysis, the main determinants of paediatricians’ intention to recommend the A(H1N1) vaccine were their intention to get vaccinated against A(H1N1) influenza themselves and a belief that A (H1N1) vaccine would be well accepted by health professionals who administer vaccines to the public. Conclusion: Results of this study show important increases in physicians’ level of confidence about A(H1N1) vaccine’s safety and immunogenicity and their willingness to recommend this vaccine to their patients. These changes could be explained, at least partially, by the important effort done by public health authorities to disseminate information regarding A(H1N1) vaccination. Background In June 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an A(H1N1) influenza pandemic [1]. In Octo- ber 2009, the largest vaccination campaign in Canadian history began. Before the start of the A(H1N1) pan- demic influenza vaccination campaign, limited * Correspondence: eve.dube@ssss.gouv.qc.ca 1Institut National de Santé publique du Québec, 2400 d’Estimauville, Québec, Canada Full list of author information is available at the end of the article information on the safety and immunogenicity of A (H1N1) influenza vaccines was available. However, the spread of A(H1N1) influenza generated intense media interest in pandemic preparedness and contradictory information around the vaccine and the vaccination campaign was reported [2-6]. During the first wave of A (H1N1) influenza in Canada, 77 deaths were reported, mostly in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. During the second wave, in early fall 2009, 351 deaths were reported across the country [7]. In Canada, almost © 2011 Dubé et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.