[01] Kieren Low Chitra Karan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Jemima Thomas, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Sonia Chitra Karan, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Muhammad Hafiz bin Abd Rahim, Faculty of Medicine, Melaka-Manipal Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

Annual influenza epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe respiratory illness and about 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths. These burden of illness causes considerably high morbidity and mortality worldwide. With that being said, vaccines have undoubtedly become the best preventive measure for various diseases, more so for the influenza. This study was conducted to understand the knowledge, perception, attitude and practice of undergraduate students towards the influenza vaccine. This cross-sectional study had been conducted from November 2020 to December 2020 with the help of a questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of 5 sections which included: Sociodemographic information, knowledge of flu vaccines overall, attitude towards flu vaccinations, risk perception, and attitude towards the influenza vaccination which had all been completed by 280 students. Statistical tests (Unpaired T-test, ANOVA, Chi square, logistic regression) had been done using Epi info V7.2.4. From the knowledge section of the questionnaire, the participants can be divided into 3 categories for knowledge: high, low and moderate where at which, 3.57% of the participants had been in the high category, 71.07% for low and 25.36% had been in moderate. Attitude of the students towards influenza vaccination, along with perception and knowledge had no significant association with age, gender, ethnicity, previous history of influenza vaccination, smoking status, history of chronic illness or living with susceptible individuals. However, there had been a positive association between smoking status and influenza vaccination uptake, with smokers more likely to be vaccinated compared to non-smokers. In addition to this, Indian and Malay populations were more likely to be vaccinated compared to that of Chinese populations.

Knowledge, Attitude, Perception, Practice, Undergraduate Students, Influenza Vaccination, Cross-sectional Study, Malaysia

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