[Opinions of family physicians and specialists on vaccination against influenza].

About 50 percent of the patients who because of an underlying disease should be vaccinated annually against influenza, do not receive the vaccine. One of the major reasons is that they are not informed by their physicians about the need to be vaccinated. To understand the attitude of the physicians concerning influenza vaccination and the way the vaccination of these patients is organized, questionnaires were send to 250 general practitioners, 125 cardiologists and 125 pulmonologists in the Netherlands. Eighty-four percent of the questionnaires were returned. The results show that the physicians were well informed about the indications for vaccination. A minority of the physicians had doubts about the efficacy of the vaccine. Both specialists and general practitioners agreed that vaccination should be performed by the general practitioner. Instruction of the patients and application of the vaccine were generally rather well organized. It is to be expected, however, that improvement of the organization will enhance the rate of vaccination against influenza in the Netherlands.