[en] BACKGROUND: Vaccination is vital for achieving population immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but vaccination hesitancy presents a threat to achieving widespread immunity. Vaccine acceptance in chronic potentially immunosuppressed patients is largely unclear, especially in patients with asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate the vaccination experience in people with severe asthma. METHODS: Questionnaires about vaccination beliefs (including the Vaccination Attitudes Examination (VAX) scale, a measure of vaccination hesitancy-related beliefs), vaccination side-effects, asthma control and overall safety perceptions following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination were sent to patients with severe asthma in 12 European countries between May and June 2021. RESULTS: 660 participants returned completed questionnaires (87.4% response rate). Of these, 88% stated that they had been, or intended to be, vaccinated, 9.5% were undecided/hesitant and 3% had refused vaccination. Patients who hesitated or refused vaccination had more negative beliefs towards vaccination. Most patients reported mild (48.2%) or no side-effects (43.8%). Patients reporting severe side-effects (5.7%) had more negative beliefs. Most patients (88.8%) reported no change in asthma symptoms after vaccination, while 2.4% reported an improvement, 5.3% a slight deterioration and 1.2% a considerable deterioration. Almost all vaccinated (98%) patients would recommend vaccination to other severe asthma patients. CONCLUSIONS: Uptake of vaccination in patients with severe asthma in Europe was high, with a small minority refusing vaccination. Beliefs predicted vaccination behaviour and side-effects. Vaccination had little impact on asthma control. Our findings in people with severe asthma support the broad message that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and well tolerated.
Disciplines :
Cardiovascular & respiratory systems
Author, co-author :
Bossios, Apostolos ; Karolinska Severe Asthma Center, Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden. ; Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. ; Division of Lung and Airway Research, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Bacon, Alison M ; School of Psychology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
Eger, Katrien ; Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Paróczai, Dóra; Csongrad County Hospital and Department of Pulmonology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Schleich, FLorence ; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > > Service de pneumologie - allergologie
Hanon, Shane ; The North Estonian Medical Centre, Tallinn, Estonia.
Zervas, Eleftherios ; Pulmonary Department, 424 Army General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Katsoulis, Konstantinos; Respiratory Medicine Department, University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Aggelopoulou, Christina; 1st Department of Pulmonary Medicine, "Sotiria" Hospital, Athens Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Kostikas, Konstantinos ; Respiratory Medicine Department, University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Gaki, Eleni; Respiratory Medicine Department, University Hospital of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Rovina, Nikoletta; National Koranyi Institute for Pulmonology, Budapest, Hungary.
Csoma, Zsuzsanna; Riga East University Hospital, Riga, Latvia.
Grisle, Ineta; Lithuanian University of Health Science, Kaunas, Lithuania.
Bieksiené, Kristina; Medical Centre Leeuwarden, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Palacionyte, Jolita; Lithuanian University of Health Science, Kaunas, Lithuania.
Ten Brinke, Anneke; National Institute of Pneumology, Bucharest, Romania.
Hashimoto, Simone ; Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Mihălţan, Florin; Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Nenasheva, Natalia; Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia.
Zvezdin, Biljana; Clinic for Pulmonology, University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.
Čekerevac, Ivan; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia. ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Hromiš, Sanja ; Institute for Pulmonary Diseases of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica, Serbia. ; Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Ćupurdija, Vojislav; Clinic for Pulmonology, University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.
Lazic, Zorica; Clinic for Pulmonology, University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia. ; Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia.
Chaudhuri, Rekha; Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow, UK.
Smith, Steven James; Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow, UK.
Rupani, Hitasha ; Southampton University Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Haitchi, Hans Michael ; Southampton University Hospital, Southampton, UK.
Kurukulaaratchy, Ramesh; Southampton University Hospital, Southampton, UK.
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