US healthcare workers lag in flu vaccines: study

Health officials lecture Americans every year on the importance of getting an influenza vaccine but it seems they are not even able to get a majority of their colleagues to do so.

Only 36 per cent of hospital workers are vaccinated each year against flu -- putting themselves, their families and most of all, their vulnerable patients at risk, according to a panel of experts.

The Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices wrestled with the issue at a regular meeting on Wednesday, trying to come up with ways to get more doctors, nurses and technicians immunised.

"We have lower immunisation rates in healthcare workers than almost any other recommended group," said ACIP member Dr Kathleen Neuzil, of the American College of Physicians. "Truly, it doesn't make sense. Here we are, telling everyone else to get the vaccine and we are not taking it ourselves. It is a safety issue. It is an ethical issue."

Influenza kills 36,000 Americans in an average year, and puts 114,000 into the hospital. The vaccine, while imperfect, prevents the worst cases and can make the difference between a minor, annoying illness and one that can kill. The ACIP, which advises the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, recommends that everyone over 50, very young children, pregnant women, people with immune disorders and healthcare workers get a fresh flu vaccination every year.

But in any given year, just two-thirds of Americans who should get the flu shot do. And those who should be the most motivated -- healthcare workers -- are even less likely. Just over one-third get the shot. The results have been deadly.

"Unvaccinated healthcare workers can be a key cause of outbreaks in healthcare settings," the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases said in a report to the ACIP meeting. "These employees encounter high-risk patients throughout the influenza season in medical practices, general hospitals, specialty hospitals, long-term care and rehabilitation facilities, home-care sites and other healthcare settings."

It described the case of an intensive care unit full of newborns where 19 tiny babies caught influenza and one died. "Healthcare workers were the likely source of the spread. Only 15 per cent of staff had been immunised," the report reads.

"Our first job today was to try to make people aware of the problem," Neuzil said. "We can't just say 'go get your flu vaccine'. What we are saying is that hospitals and physicians' offices and medical centres should provide on-site, easy ways for healthcare workers to get their immunisations."