Pneumococcal and Influenza Vaccines in Dialysis Patients: Vaccination Information, Rates, and Patient Awareness

Objective: Pneumococcal and influenza vaccination rates are still far below the desired levels in dialysis patients. We aimed to determine the pneumococcal and influenza vaccination information, rates, and knowledge levels of dialysis patients. Methods: The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which 307 dialysis patients between 2020 and 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. Demographic characteristics of all patients and vaccination information were obtained from the face-to-face questionnaire and hospital medical records. Results: Of the participants, 52.4% were males, and the mean age was 56 +/- 15.45 years. The pneumococcal vaccination rate was 37.1%, and the influenza vaccination rate was 58.6%. Of 114 patients who had received a pneumococcal vaccine, 91.2% had received a single dose of the vaccine. While the type of vaccine could not be determined in 86.8% of the patients in this group, the rate of vaccination with the 2 types of the pneumococcal vaccine was only 8.8%. Annual vaccination was given to all those who were vaccinated against influenza. In the whole group, the rate of those who had never heard of the pneumococcal vaccine was 24.4%, while this rate was 6.5% for the influenza vaccine. The patients had a very low level of knowledge of both vaccines (41% and 53.7%, respectively). Conclusion: Pneumococcal and influenza vaccination rate of dialysis patients was low. Influenza vaccination had been performed in compliance with the recommended scheme, but the doses of the pneumococcal vaccine were incomplete. Although the level of patient knowledge was low for both vaccines, patients were more aware of the influenza vaccine.