Childhood vaccine hesitancy in two regions with different socioeconomic backgrounds in Turkey.

Aim: This study investigated childhood vaccine hesitancy in two regions with different socioeconomic backgrounds in Kayseri, Turkey. Subject and methods: The study population consisted of all people over 18 years of age admitted to two family health centers (No 65 and 103) in a city center for any reason. Results: Participants living in the high socioeconomic status (SES) region had a significantly lower mean rating on the CVHQ (Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy Questionnaire - see below) than those living in the low SES region. Conclusion: Vaccine hesitancy is the main reason for vaccine refusal. Therefore, authorities should provide adequate and accurate information about the significance of vaccines to raise public awareness.

Information, attitudes and behavior of Turkish people concerning COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of people towards COVID-19 and to evaluate compliance with practices such as social isolation, curfews, mask use and hand hygiene. METHODOLOGY: A month after the COVID-19 infection was observed in Turkey, a standard questionnaire link was sent to participants via the online questionnaire platform to determine the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of the public. The survey results of 503 people were evaluated. RESULTS: During the COVID-19 pandemic 81.2% of the participants stayed at home, 79.1% of the participants wore a mask, 74% of the participants expressed to be following social distancing rules, 54.1% confirmed the use of hand sanitizers and 43.9% confirmed the use of gloves (43.9%), which are considered to be personal protective measures. The knowledge of terms such as 'quarantine' and 'isolation' was 94% and 97.4% respectively and 37.2% of the participants were of the opinion that the COVID-19 virus was produced in a laboratory environment. Within the research group, a rate of 65.6% of the participants found their own knowledge of COVID-19 to be sufficient. The participants found the announcements of official institutions more reliable than the announcements on television programs, the internet and social media. CONCLUSIONS: The public information on COVID-19 was found to be sufficient. In order to prevent the spreading of the pandemic, participants were partially compliant to rules such as staying at home, using masks, maintaining hand hygiene and social isolation. Compared to men, women's use of protective equipment was higher.

Attitudes and behaviors regarding organ donation: a study on officials of religion in Turkey.

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes and behaviors of religious scholars regarding organ donation and transplantation. In this study, 540 officials working in the Department of Religious Affairs in Kayseri, Turkey, were included. Overall, 86.6% response rate (n = 468) was achieved. Although a majority of the officials of religion in this study stated that they believed in the importance of organ donation (90.8%), the rate of considering donation (57.9%) and the donation rate (1.1%) were found to be substantially low. There is a difference between the employment status and willingness to donate organs. The rate of willingness to donate was significantly high in men than women. And also was high in imams and preachers. Regarding the sources of information, the majority of the respondents (70.0%) cited mass media. Overall, 15.3% cited school education and 42.0% religious publications. The most common question (83.1%) that was asked was "whether or not organ donation was suitable for Muslim religious". Our study revealed that although the research groups have positive ideas about organ donation and transplantation, their role was low in informing and motivating people about organ donation and transplantation.