Introduction. Regular vaccinations against influenza are recommended to all health professionals by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the polish Plan for preventive vaccination (PSO) as defined by the Chief Sanitary Inspector. This is supposed to ensure safety for patients and proper functioning of the health care centres. Aim. Assessment of knowledge and attitudes as well as the rate of vaccination against influenza among selected groups of health professionals. Material and methods. The study enrolled a total of 90 health care professionals, including 30 pharmacists, 30 physicians, and 30 nurses from Warsaw and its neighbourhood. Respondents voluntarily filled in an anonymous questionnaire developed by the authors. Results. Among the study group, 3% of the pharmacists, 17% of the nurses, and 43% of the physicians reported to be vaccinated against influenza regularly. With the present epidemiological situation, vaccinations against influenza were of particular importance for 13% of the pharmacists and nurses as well as 50% of the physicians. A vast majority of the medical personnel had no certainty about the safety of vaccination, only 30% of the pharmacists, 40% of the nurses, and 70% of the physicians considered them safe. Conclusions. 1. A small percentage of medical personnel regularly get vaccinations against influenza, with a particularly low vaccination rate among pharmacists. 2. Better awareness of the necessity for vaccination was observed among physicians compared to the groups of nurses and pharmacists. 3. Study results demonstrated a growing need for trainings on safety and effectiveness of vaccination against influenza since the reliability of this form of infection prevention was rated low by a great number of health care professionals.

Key words: influenza, vaccination, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, attitudes, opinions, health protection.