Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of general practitioners towards measles and MMR vaccination in southeastern France in 2012

As a result of sub-optimal immunization levels, measles has re-emerged in the EU since 2008 (30 567 cases in 2011), and nearly half of the cases reported are in France. Our objectives were to assess knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of French general practitioners (GPs) towards measles and measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination. In 2012, we surveyed 329 GPs in southeastern France. Forty-five percent reported that they saw patients with measles in 2011. They considered the risk of complications low among 2–5-year-old children and young adults without co-morbidity. Twenty percent knew that two MMR doses are 99% effective in preventing measles. Nearly all (95%) GPs stated that they verified the MMR status for patients <30 years old in 2011 (42% systematically, 37% often, 15% sometimes). Seventy-nine percent reported proposing MMR vaccination to non-immune relatives in contact with a patient with measles. Participation in continuing medical education courses and considering measles to be a serious disease were independently associated with such post-exposure vaccination. GPs considered the following were potential barriers to the second dose of MMR (MMR2): parents/patients' belief that measles is harmless (80%), parents/patients' fear of the vaccine's side effects (50%), difficulty in documenting vaccination (48%) and lack of reminders for MMR2 (16%). Finally, some GPs also had misconceptions about the severity of measles (13%) and the usefulness of MMR2 (12%), which also served as barriers. In conclusion, it is essential to raise GPs' awareness of this disease and fill any gaps in their knowledge, by providing them with evidence-based information on measles and MMR vaccination.