Willingness to take Mpox vaccine and associated factors among health professionals in Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Monkeypox (Mpox) is vaccine preventable a viral infection declared as a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization in 2022. As a response to the epidemic, vaccines against the virus are being implemented in different countries, complementing other public health interventions. However, little is known about the willingness to accept the Mpox vaccine among health professionals in Africa, notably in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify willingness to take the Mpox vaccine and associated factors among health professionals in Ethiopia.

METHODS

A national online cross-sectional study design was employed between August 31, 2024, and September 6, 2024, among health professionals in Ethiopia. The data were collected from purposively selected healthcare professionals utilizing snowball sampling to achieve a high response rate using a semi-structured online survey tool. The tool was pretested, every survey item was drafted as a must-fill, and only data with correct characters were included after removing responses with miss response for the intended questionnaire. Variables with a p-value<0.25 in the bivariable logistic regression analysis were taken as candidates for multivariable analysis. An adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95 % confidence interval (CI) were computed and p-value <0.05 were used to set statistically significant variables within final model. Finally, text, tables, and figures were used to present the data.

RESULTS

The study involved 749 health professionals. Of the participants, 637 (85 %) were males, 674 (90 %) were currently employed in urban areas, and 543 (72.5 %) had received the COVID-19 vaccine. Among all participants, 423 (56.5 %) demonstrated a good knowledge of Mpox, whereas 211 (28.2 %) expressed a willingness to get vaccinated against Mpox. Besides, recent travel to countries experiencing the Mpox outbreak (AOR = 3.21, 95 %CI:1.65-6.29), positive attitude towards the Mpox vaccine uptake (AOR = 3.08, 95 %CI:2.11-4.49), lack of access to Mpox infection information (AOR = 1.93, 95 %CI:1.05-3.55), the belief that avoiding treatment of Mpox cases would prevent self-contamination (AOR = 4.05, 95 %CI: 2.83-5.80), and prior contact with individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 (AOR = 1.57 95 %CI (1.07-2.32)were factors significantly associated with willingness to get vaccinated against Mpox.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the ongoing outbreak within the continent, only a low proportion of surveyed health professionals expressed willingness to receive the Mpox vaccine. In addressing the outbreak, it is crucial to consider various factors such as recent travel to Mpox-affected countries, attitude towards Mpox, knowledge about the disease, and prior exposure to confirmed COVID-19 cases when developing and distributing information about Mpox vaccine. Consequently, substantial efforts must be directed towards educating and empowering health professionals in Ethiopia to effectively contribute to prevention and control measures.