NURSES' AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS INFLUENZA VACCINATION: A STUDY IN GEORGIA.

This study aimed to investigate the attitudes and awareness of nurses in Georgia towards influenza vaccination, especially in light of the mandatory vaccination policy introduced for medical personnel. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 455 Level 5 nurses, chosen from a population of 19000 registered nurses in Georgia. Participants completed a 16-question mixed-format questionnaire assessing demographic information, knowledge about mandatory influenza vaccines, and attitudes towards vaccination. Data analysis employed quantitative methods using SPSS, focusing on statistical measures such as mean, relative frequencies, standard deviation, and chi-square tests. The study found that 56% of nurses had received training on flu vaccination, but a significant portion (36.6%) had not, leading to varied levels of self-assessed knowledge. Over 61% of nurses had been vaccinated for the current season. Reasons for not receiving the flu shot included personal health concerns (14.7%), time constraints (14.7%), and fear of adverse effects (16.5%). Despite these concerns, 83.8% believed in the vaccine's effectiveness. Regarding mandatory vaccination, 50% supported voluntary vaccination, while 24.6% supported mandatory policies. The study also noted regional differences in vaccine uptake and found that a significant proportion of those opposed to mandatory vaccination had nonetheless been vaccinated. The research underscores a need for improved educational initiatives to address the misconceptions about vaccine risks among nurses. Despite concerns over adverse events, the actual risk associated with influenza vaccination is low. The study advocates for enhanced communication strategies to bridge the gap between perceived and actual risks and to increase influenza vaccination uptake among nurses.

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF GREEN TEA EXTRACTS.

The purpose of our study was to determine effects of green tea extracts on the Jurkat cells incubated under oxidative stress conditions. The research was conducted on leukemic human mature T cells (Jurkat cells). For the modelling of oxidative stress 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (Sigma) (10 µl, 25 µl 50 µl and 100 µl) was added to Jurkat cell suspension with subsequent incubation for 4, 6, 8 and 24 h. Control group was represented by intact Jurkat cells. The assessment of cells proliferation activity (viability) was performed by MTT test. The viability of Jurkat cells incubated for 24 hours under acquit oxidative stress conditions dose-depenently, monotonically decreased (irreversibly at 100 µM of H2O2 and reaches the 30% of intact Jurkat cells viability level at 50 µM of H2O2). Low doses of H2O2 (10 µl, 25 µl H2O2) revealed cytotoxicity only within short term (8 hours) of the incubation, afterward the viability of Jurkat cells monotonically increased and after 24 hours it reached 43% and 56% of control level, respectively. Vitamins C and E revealed cytotoxic effect on intact Jurkat cells, while the C+V vitamins complex induced 2-fold stimulation of Jurkat cells viability. Under a moderate oxidative stress condition (25 µl of H2O2) the complex of C + E vitamins revealed cytoprotective effect on Jurkat cells which may be related to ability of vitamin C to induce regeneration and to transform E vitamin tocopheroxyl free radicals into tocopherol. Green tea had no effect, green tea catechins revealed stimulatory effect, while green tea pectin - weak cytotoxic effect on intact Jurkat cells. Green tea and especially extracted catechins (but not pectin) revealed stimulatory effect on the viability of the Jurkat cells incubated under an oxidative stress condition. Our study results confirm the opinion that the natural compounds (green tea extracts) are harmless for normal cellular metabolism. Their differential effects on the "diseased", incubated under an oxidative stress cells are mediated via impact on signaling regulatory systems. On the basis of screening of green tea extracts it will be possible to select new high effective cytotoxic and cytoprotective compounds.