Introduction:

Seasonal Flu, caused by the Influenza virus, is a contagious respiratory disease, with healthcare workers being one of the main risk groups. Such workers are potential transmitters of influenza other health professionals and patients they care for, particularly for the most susceptible, and are often involved in nosocomial outbreaks in health institutions. Therefore, flu vaccination is strongly recommended for this priority group.

Aims:

To characterize the main reasons for vaccination decisions among workers in a Hospital Center in Greater Lisbon.

Methods:

Cross-sectional observational study, where a vaccination questionnaire was applied, adapted from the literature, which was made available on the internal website of the studied institution.

Results:

81 responses to the vaccination questionnaire were obtained, with a predominance of females (79%), 45-64 years old (62%) and nursing (37%). The majority (67%) of the participants were vaccinated for the flu in the 2018-2019 season.

The reasons that most often justified the vaccination decision were individual and patient protection, as well as national and international recommendations. In turn, the fear of adverse effects, doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine and the belief that the vaccine could cause disease, were the most prevalent reasons among non-vaccinated workers.

Conclusions:

The behaviors and attitudes towards vaccination and the risk of being vaccinated or not, will depend on the personality of each worker, as well as being related to the perception that the worker has of such risk. So, this work, by making workers' beliefs about flu vaccination available, reinforces the importance of investing in their information and education, through the support of competent services, such as Occupational Health Services, which may exercise a positive influence on the training of workers and the employer. A similar study at national level is necessary to obtain a greater representation of the motivations for vaccination of health workers.

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