profession
Hospital mandate raises flu-vaccination rate
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 26, 2011
The University of California, Irvine Medical Center has achieved an influenza vaccination rate exceeding 90% with a policy that requires physicians, nurses and other workers at the hospital to wear a mask while in patient care areas if they forgo immunization. The mandate took effect in 2009, after a voluntary campaign that began in 2007 raised the vaccination rate among its 6,500 employees from about 45% to 60%, according to a study in the January 2012 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
"In moving to a mandatory program, we found that the majority of vaccine declinations for medical or religious reasons remained small throughout all flu seasons. In contrast, the proportion of declinations for preferential reasons, like philosophical beliefs or fear of needles, markedly decreased," said Susan Huang, MD, MPH, who co-wrote the study and is medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine. Nationwide, health professional flu-vaccination rates range from 60% to 65%, according to the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/12/26/prbf1226.htm.
