Ahmed Al-Mohamadi

Background: Despite the increased recommendations for influenza vaccination, particularly among high-risk groups such as young children, Yemen lacks an influenza vaccination program, and the influenza vaccine is not included in the national immunization regime. This is exacerbated by the country’s fragile infrastructure, as well as the devastating consequences of the ongoing conflict, which include child undernutrition and strained healthcare resources. Thus, the objective of the current study is to assess the public attitudes and perceptions toward vaccinating children against influenza in Yemen.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by distributing a validated survey questionnaire to potential participants using convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize sociodemographic data, knowledge of influenza vaccines, and attitudes and perceptions regarding vaccinating children against influenza. Logistic regression analysis was employed to identify associations between independent variables and the acceptance of vaccines for children.Results: A total of 853 eligible individuals, parents and non-parents, successfully completed the survey. The uptake of the influenza vaccine among the participants was notably low as the majority (69.2%) had not previously received the vaccine, although the majority expressed a willingness to get vaccinated in the future (59.4%). The majority (68.5%) were willing to vaccinate children. The largest percentage of the participants who expressed hesitancy toward children’s vaccination cited multiple reasons to reject the vaccine (39.7%), with concerns regarding the safety of the vaccine being the predominant barrier to its acceptance for children (29.6%). On the other hand, motivating factors for vaccinating children included the validation of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, endorsement of the vaccine by the government and physicians, integration of the vaccine into the national immunization program, and the provision of the vaccine free of charge and through schools. Significant predictors for vaccine acceptance in children included male gender, knowledge of the protective effect of the influenza vaccine, previous receipt of the vaccine, and a willingness to receive the vaccine in the future.Conclusions: The study highlights the need for educational health campaigns to raise awareness and remove misconceptions regarding influenza and the role, benefits, and availability of its vaccine. These findings can serve as a robust foundation for the future design and implementation of an influenza vaccination program for children in Yemen.

Background: The seasonal influenza vaccine is an important preventive measure against influenza and its associated complications. In Yemen, there is no seasonal influenza vaccination policy, and the influenza vaccine is excluded from the national immunization program. Data on vaccination coverage remain scarce with no previous surveillance programs or awareness campaigns implemented in the country. The current study aims to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitudes of the public in Yemen toward seasonal influenza and their motivators and perceived barriers to receiving its vaccine.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out using a self-administered questionnaire that was distributed to eligible participants using convenience sampling.Results: A total of 1,396 participants completed the questionnaire. The respondents showed a median knowledge score of influenza of 11.0/15.0, and most of them (70%) were able to recognize its modes of transmission. However, only 11.3% of the participants reported receiving the seasonal influenza vaccine. Physicians were the respondents' most preferred information source for influenza (35.2%), and their recommendation (44.3%) was the most cited reason for taking its vaccine. On the contrary, not knowing about the vaccine's availability (50.1%), concerns regarding the safety of the vaccine (17%), and not considering influenza as a threat (15.9%) were the main reported barriers to getting vaccinated.Conclusion: The current study showed a low uptake of influenza vaccines in Yemen. The physician's role in promoting influenza vaccination seems to be essential. Extensive and sustained awareness campaigns would likely increase the awareness of influenza and remove misconceptions and negative attitudes toward its vaccine. Equitable access to the vaccine can be promoted by providing it free of charge to the public.

Medication discrepancies are seen frequently in hospital setting upon admission or discharge. Medication Reconciliation service is a practice designed to ensure that patients’ medications are ordered in a correct manner upon hospital admission, thus reducing the risk of having medication discrepancies. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of medication discrepancies and their clinical seriousness in pediatric patients at the time of hospital admission. A prevalence cross-sectional study was conducted at the pediatric departement at the Jordan University hospital between March–May 2018. During the study period, 100 pediatric patients were enrolled using a convenience sampling method. Patients’ medical records were reviewed by two clinical pharmacist-reserachers to obtain patients' demographic, medical, and admission medication information. All parents were interviewed to obtain information regarding their children’s Best Possible Medication History (BPMH). Following data collection, differences between patient’s current admission medications and the BPMH were identified as medication discrepancies, and then they were classified into either undocumented intentional or unintentional discrepancies. Among the 100 medication records reviewed, 13.0% (13 out of 100) contained at least one unintentional discrepancy, with the majority (n = 11, 84.6%) being classified to be associated with mild potential harm to patients. Of those discrepancies, 8 were omission of medications (61.5%) and 5 were addition of unnecessary medication (38.5%). On the other hand, 35.0% (35 out of 100) of medication records contained at least one intentional undocumented discrepancy. This study revealed that unintentional medication discrepancies exist at the time of hospital admission for pediatric patients but with low proportion. The low proportion of medication discrepancies might be explained by the recent implementation of medication reconciliation service at the studied hospital. Also, intentional undocumented discrepancies were common, which may carry a potential harm to such vulnerable population at discharge. These data may inform the need for a strict policies to regulate medication documentation, thus decreasing the possibilities of medication errors.