Knowledge of monkeypox and willingness to vaccinate against monkeypox among Chinese college students: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: To investigate the current knowledge level of Chinese college students about monkeypox and their willingness to receive vaccination against monkeypox and to analyze its influencing factors to provide reference for formulating targeted measures to accelerate vaccination.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted as an online survey via a self-filling electronic questionnaire, and data were collected from July 1 to 16, 2023. The subjects were Chinese college students. The collected data included basic subject data, cognition of monkeypox knowledge, and willingness to receive monkeypox vaccination. The χ² test was performed to compare and analyze the classified data.

Results: A total of 5,317 valid questionnaire responses from college students were assessed in this study. The number of male students was 3,574 (67.2%) and that of college freshmen was 2,395 (45%). The majority of college freshmen and senior students were willing to receive the monkeypox vaccine (79.7% vs. 76.0%, respectively). Regarding monkeypox as an infectious disease, 82.9% of college freshmen and 79.3% of senior students were correct. Regarding the basic knowledge about monkeypox, most college students answered the knowledge questions correctly (53.1-84.8%). In the college students, we noted a correct understanding i) of vaccination and that monkeypox is a rapidly spreading disease (P < 0.001), ii) that monkeypox incubation period is 5-21 days (P < 0.013), iii) that monkeypox prevention method is to avoid direct contact (P < 0.001), and iv) that smallpox vaccination can prevent monkeypox was recorded, with a significant correlation (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: College students are concerned about the monkeypox virus up to a certain extent, and they are willing to receive vaccination with the monkeypox vaccine, albeit their knowledge about the monkeypox virus is insufficient in China. In the future, dissemination of monkeypox knowledge and awareness of vaccine-related knowledge should be strengthened to further enhance the willingness to receive monkeypox vaccination.