To be vaccinated or not? A survey of Turkish emergency physicians regarding smallpox

We investigated Turkish emergency physicians' opinions about the threat of smallpox, smallpox vaccination, and the treatment of patients with suspected smallpox, and sought to identify factors that affect willingness to receive smallpox vaccination. Anonymous surveys were sent by mail to university-affiliated Emergency Departments in Turkey. Ten of the 21 university-based Emergency Medicine programs participated in the study, and 125 physicians (48% of all emergency physicians in Turkey) completed the survey. The probability of a bioterror attack using smallpox within Turkish borders was viewed as none or minimal by 43.2% of participants. Only 22.4% of the participants stated that they would agree to be vaccinated. The only factor that affected the rate of participants' willingness to receive smallpox vaccination was the occurrence of a smallpox case within Turkish borders. Decisions about the treatment of patients with suspected smallpox are strongly influenced by whether or not the physician has been vaccinated against smallpox. At the time of the survey, even during the weeks leading up to and during the war in Iraq, Turkish emergency physicians' perceived risk of a bioterror attack using the smallpox virus was low. A significant number of Turkish emergency physicians were unwilling to participate in a hypothetical vaccination program. This study shows that the occurrence of a smallpox case within Turkish borders would significantly increase the willingness of emergency physicians to receive the smallpox vaccine. Decisions about treatment of patients with suspected smallpox are strongly influenced by whether or not the physician has been vaccinated against smallpox.