Mpox awareness and vaccination willingness among a household cohort in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Background: Awareness of mpox and acceptance of vaccinations are important components of a passive surveillance system and public health control efforts. We estimate and explore factors in awareness of mpox and acceptance of mpox vaccination in Matlab, a rural region of Bangladesh.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in August and September 2022. A total of 700 households were approached, screened against the inclusion criteria and consented. Households were administered a survey questioning basic demographics, health access, community and government trust, sources of health information, awareness of mpox and intent to be vaccinated against mpox if the vaccine were available at no cost. We summarized the data through a univariate analysis and explored factors in awareness of mpox through a logistic regression.

Results: Of the 700 recruited households, 501 completed the survey. Of these, 64% were aware of mpox and 94% were willing to be vaccinated against mpox. Older age had a negative association with awareness of mpox, with a -0.5 percentage point difference (95% confidence interval -1.0 to 0.1); no other demographic factor had a significant or near-significant association. Having access to a bank account and attending a clinic for healthcare needs had a significant positive association with mpox awareness.

Conclusion: There are strides to be made in increasing mpox awareness to strengthen passive surveillance efforts and personal protection efforts in Matlab and similar regions. This may be done through educational campaigns, increasing access to healthcare and overall improvements in health literacy. However, acceptance of the vaccination is high, presenting a learning opportunity for other contexts.