Vaccination Coverage Among Nursing Students in Greece: A Cross-Sectional Assessment

Background: /Objectives: Vaccination coverage status of nursing students has a pivotal role as they are in direct contact with patients. Suboptimal vaccination status poses patients at high risk of transmission as healthcare providers may serve as reservoirs of pathogens. The present study aimed to assess the immunity status of nursing students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Methods: It was a cross-sectional study which was conducted between June to July 2024. Univariate and Bivariate analyses were applied, and the x2 statistical test (chi-square test) was used to correlate the data. p-value≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: A total of 152 students participated in the study. The full vaccination rate was as follows: 38.8% against Hepatitis B, 33.6% against Hepatitis A, 55.3% against MMR, 35.5% against varicella, 45.4% against HPV, 75% against COVID-19, 19.1% against influenza. In the past decade, only 25.7% of the students had received booster shot for diphtheria-tetanus. Hepatitis B antibodies test has been statistically correlated with the year of study (p<0.05). Also, HPV vaccination has been correlated with gender, which seems normal because most nursing students are women (p<0.001). Conclusions: There is a need for a comprehensive program for healthcare students which will include not only training and awareness for VPDs but also interventions such as individual consultation for VPDs, free-of-charge vaccination on-site, collection of anonymous data from vaccination booklets of students to ensure accurate data about vaccination coverage, free of charge titer testing and immunity confirmation.