Healthcare Providers

The Word Is Out. Pass It On.

Facilities that employ healthcare providers should provide vaccines to workers using approaches demonstrated to be effective in increasing vaccination coverage.

Protect your patients, your staff and yourself

Efforts to increase vaccination coverage among healthcare professionals are supported by various national accrediting and professional organizations and in certain states by statute. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health-Care Organizations has approved an infection control standard that requires accredited organizations to offer influenza vaccinations to staff, including volunteers and licensed independent practitioners with close patient contact.¹ The standard became an accreditation requirement beginning January 1, 2007.¹

The Infectious Diseases Society of America has also recently recommended mandatory vaccination for healthcare professionals, with a provision for declination of vaccination based on religious or medical reasons.¹

Persons working in healthcare settings include:

Physicians
Nurses
Other workers in both hospital and outpatient-care settings
Medical emergency-response workers (e.g., paramedics and emergency medical technicians)
Employees of nursing home and chronic-care facilities who have contact with patients or residents
Students in these professions who will have contact with patients

REFERENCES:

Infectious Diseases Society of America. Pandemic and seasonal influenza: principles for U.S. action. Arlington, VA: Infectious Diseases Society of America; 2007. Available at http://www.idsociety.org/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=5728.

Important Safety Information

Afluria^® is indicated for active immunization of persons 18 years of age and older against influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and type B present in the vaccine. The indication is based on the immune response elicited by Afluria^®; no controlled clinical studies have demonstrated a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with Afluria^®.

Afluria^® should not be administered to individuals with hypersensitivity to eggs or chicken protein or other components of Afluria^®, or to anyone who has had a life-threatening reaction to previous influenza vaccination. The most common injection-site adverse reactions were tenderness, pain, redness, and swelling. The most common systemic adverse reactions were headache, malaise, and muscle aches.

Vaccination with Afluria^® may not protect all individuals. Immunocompromised persons may have a diminished immune response. If Guillain-Barré syndrome has occurred within 6 weeks of receipt of prior influenza vaccine, the decision to give Afluria^® should be based on careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks.

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