{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T11:44:29Z","timestamp":1793187869237,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]],"date-time":"2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742860800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Vaccination against influenza and pertussis in pregnant women protects the mother and child through the transfer of protective antibodies across the placenta. However, pregnant women\u2019s vaccine hesitancy is a major barrier to achieve satisfactory vaccination coverage in many developed countries. Methods: Greek pregnant women\u2019s vaccination knowledge, attitudes, and practices were recorded. Structured questionnaires were administered to mothers of infants under the age of 12 months through their pediatricians. Sampling across the country\u2019s districts was applied to achieve geographic representativeness. Results: Questionnaires from 474 mothers were collected. Their mean age was 34 (\u00b15) years. Vaccination uptake was 16.8% and 45.7%, for pertussis and influenza, respectively. During their recent pregnancy, 68.9% and 27.1% of the responders had been informed by their gynecologists regarding influenza and pertussis maternal immunization, respectively, indicating that gynecologists miss out on informing a significant rate of pregnant women. According to multiple logistic regression, women who gave birth during spring (OR: 2.29 vs. winter delivery, p = 0.042) and those with an MSc or PhD (OR: 2.93 vs. school graduates, p = 0.015) were more likely to receive influenza vaccination. Factors favoring influenza vaccination included doctor\u2019s recommendation (OR: 18.86, p &lt; 0.001), being not\/somewhat afraid of potential vaccine side effects during pregnancy (OR: 2.09, p = 0.012), considering the flu as relatively\/very dangerous during pregnancy (OR: 8.05, p &lt; 0.001), and considering the flu vaccine as relatively\/completely safe (OR: 4.37, p &lt; 0.001). Doctor\u2019s recommendation (OR: 29.55, p &lt; 0.001) and considering pertussis a relatively\/very serious risk to the mother\u2019s health during pregnancy (OR: 6.00, p = 0.002) were factors associated with pertussis vaccination during pregnancy. Conclusions: The education of both expectant mothers and obstetricians is urgently needed in order to increase immunization coverage during pregnancy. The low influenza vaccination coverage among women delivering during winter and low pertussis immunization rates, in combination with low recommendation rates for both vaccines, strongly indicate that Greek obstetricians focus on maternal health alone. Their perspectives play an instrumental role in vaccine acceptance during pregnancy, shaping the immunization inclusion maps.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines13040347","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]],"date-time":"2025-03-25T10:53:54Z","timestamp":1742900034000},"page":"347","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Influenza and Pertussis Immunization During Pregnancy in Greece\u00a0"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Panagiota Georgia","family":"Maltezou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Third Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Attikon, 124 62 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4227-5470","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eleni","family":"Kourkouni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Collaborative Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), 154 51 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitra","family":"Kousi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Collaborative Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Outcomes Research (CLEO), 154 51 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4769-8376","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christos","family":"Hadjichristodoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Thessaly, 382 21 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aikaterini","family":"Dadouli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Thessaly, 382 21 Larissa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Despoina","family":"Briana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Third Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Attikon, 124 62 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vassiliki","family":"Papaevangelou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Third Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Attikon, 124 62 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"599","DOI":"10.1377\/hlthaff.24.3.599","article-title":"Immunizations in the United States: Success, structure, and stress","volume":"24","author":"Orenstein","year":"2005","journal-title":"Health Aff."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"ofx146","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofx146","article-title":"Vaccine Rejection and Hesitancy: A Review and Call to Action","volume":"4","author":"Smith","year":"2017","journal-title":"Open Forum Infect. 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