Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical College Kolkata, 88, College Street, Kolkata - 700073, West Bengal, India

Postgraduate Trainee, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical College Kolkata, 88, College Street, Kolkata - 700073, West Bengal, India

Medical Superintendent cum Vice Principal, Medical College Kolkata, 88, College Street, Kolkata - 700073, West Bengal, India

Postgraduate Trainee, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical College Kolkata, 88, College Street, Kolkata - 700073, West Bengal, India

Professor & Head, Dept. of Pharmacology, Medical College Kolkata, 88, College Street, Kolkata - 700073, West Bengal, Indi
Knowledge ,attitude ,Varicella vaccination ,medical students ,immunisation ,

Chickenpox (Varicella) is a viral infection with pruritic, vesicular rash preceded by fever and malaise. Although it has been considered as a benign childhood disease, it can be fatal especially in neonates, elderly and immunocompromised persons due to its rare but severe complication like meningitis, pneumonia, and secondary bacterial infections. The disease is highly contagious, secondary attack rate may reach 90% for susceptible household contacts. Most important is the patients become infectious before symptoms begin. Proper vaccination can prevent most of these cases. Medical students are highly susceptible to the disease if not vaccinated. The aim of the study is to assess the beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of the surveyed group of medical students regarding vaccination that may therefore be useful in order to tailor vaccination campaigns and improve vaccination rates. 250 medical students were given a pre structured questionnaire to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice of Varicella Vaccination. 180 medical students participated with a response rate of about 72%.The results regarding the knowledge of the students about the doses of Varicella vaccination revealed that only 13.3% of them were aware of the number of shots in a full course vaccination against Varicella; 81% of them not sure about the Vaccination doses, only 20% of them were vaccinated. The present study suggests a substantial need for educational campaign regarding varicella vaccination in this part of world to enrich the knowledge and concept among the future health care workers so that there is less chance of infection

10 , 2 , 2020