Three-quarters of health care workers got flu shot last year

(HealthDay)—Just over three-quarters of health care personnel received a flu vaccine last season, according to research published in the Sept. 28 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Carla L. Black, Ph.D., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted an opt-in internet panel survey of 2,265 U.S. health care personnel to estimate influenza vaccination coverage during the 2017 to 2018 influenza season.

The researchers found that 78.4 percent of health care personnel reported receiving an influenza vaccination during the 2017 to 2018 season. This percentage is similar to reported coverage in the previous four influenza seasons. Coverage was highest among health care workers whose employers required vaccination (94.8 percent) and lowest among those working in settings where vaccination was not required, promoted, or offered on site (47.6 percent). Health care personnel working in long-term care settings were found to have lower influenza vaccination coverage than health care personnel working in all other health care settings.

"Implementing workplace strategies shown to improve vaccination coverage among health care personnel, including vaccination requirements and active promotion of on-site vaccinations at no cost, can help ensure health care personnel and patients are protected against influenza," the authors write.

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