Pandemic influenza A/H1N1 vaccination coverage, adverse reactions, and reasons for vaccine refusal among medical students in Brazil

the aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine, among medical students at a public university in rio de janeiro, brazil, the acceptance of the pandemic influenza a/h1n1 vaccine during the 2010 mass immunization campaign and the vaccine safety in this group and, among unvaccinated students, the reasons for refusing vaccination. of a total of 858 students, 678 (79%) participated in the study. vaccination coverage was 60.4% among students aged 20 to 39 years (an age group targeted for vaccination) and 43.8% among those who did not belong to this age group. the most frequent adverse reactions to the vaccine were pain at the injection site (8.7%) and fever (7.9%). there were no serious adverse reactions. among students aged 20 to 39 years, the most common reasons for refusing the vaccine were "lack of time" (42.4%), "fear of adverse reactions" (41.9%), and "difficult access to the vaccine" (11.5%). other reasons for vaccine refusal were "uncertainties about vaccine safety and efficacy" and "vaccination was not needed". to increase the acceptance of the influenza vaccine, a comprehensive immunization program should be offered to these students.