Mandatory flu vaccine for health care workers to protect patients
All health care workers in health care institutions should be vaccinated with the annual influenza vaccine to protect patients, argues an editorial in CMAJ.
"Each season, 20% of health care workers get influenza, and 28% of young healthy adults who get it have asymptomatic or subclinical infections," writes Dr. Ken Flegel, Senior Associate Editor, CMAJ. "Some of them may shed virus up to a day before symptoms appear. It is time that all people who work in a health care institution be vaccinated."
In Canada, there are approximately 20 000 hospital admissions related to influenza and an estimated 4000 to 8000 deaths attributed to the illness. However, 55%
Journal information:
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Provided by
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Citation:
Mandatory flu vaccine for health care workers to protect patients (2012, October 29)
retrieved 24 April 2024
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mandatory-flu-vaccine-health-workers.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
