WASHINGTON It is "unconscionable for health care workers who do not have a medical contraindication to not receive the flu vaccine," Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press briefing presented by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
"We need to create the expectation that this is a given. … It's that important," she emphasized.
A panel of experts at the briefing expressed concern about the low vaccination rate among health care professionals and urged more physicians to get the vaccine this flu season.
"It is both the ethical and professional responsibility of every health care worker to get vaccinated. It is a patient safety issue," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., and president-elect of the NFID.
Dr. Ardis D. Hoven, an internist and infectious disease specialist in Lexington, Ky., and a member of the American Medical Association's board of directors, encouraged clinicians to vaccinate themselves and to ensure that their staff members also get the shot. It should be given to "anybody who is engaged in providing care within the clinic of the building in which the health care is being providedmedical technicians, nurses, people who are going to be involved in providing some kind of service or care to that patientin addition to the physician. It's very important and, in most practices, small or large, because we so depend on these people."
Dr. Renée R. Jenkins, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasized the need for vaccination among children.
"The recommendations from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics are to vaccinate all children 6 months through 18 years of age," she noted. This includes 5- to 18-year-olds, a new group that was added this year. Dr. Jenkins added that during a typical influenza season, up to a third of all children in the United States are infected. In the 20072008 season, 86 children died as a result of influenza, and half of those deaths were in children aged 1517 years.
Turning to the subject of older Medicare patients who are especially vulnerable to influenza-related complications, Kerry Weems of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services emphasized that the vaccine is free, whether it is administered in a doctor's office, a local pharmacy, or in a nonmedical setting such as a grocery store.
"Sadly, in any given state, at least 20% of people with Medicare are not getting their flu shot," said Mr. Weems, the acting administrator of the CMS.
The Medicare reimbursement for the influenza vaccine in the coming year will increase by almost 5%, to $18.20, for the preservative-free vaccine and by slightly more than 1%, to $22.32, for the nasal spray.
The panel also emphasized the need for increased communication between physicians and their patients about the benefits of the flu vaccine.
Dr. Hoven cited data from an NFID telephone survey of 2,029 adults taken in August of this year that showed that nearly 4 in 10 adult patients had never discussed the flu vaccine with their health care professional and that half of those patients who had discussed it had initiated the conversation. Nearly 1 in 5 patients aged 65 years or older and 3 in 10 patients aged 5064 years had ever discussed vaccine with their health care professional, she added.
These data are especially troubling because a health care professional's recommendation is a strong predictor of whether a patient gets the shotalmost 70% of the NFID survey respondents said they would be very likely or likely to get the vaccine if their health care professional had recommended it.
A total of 261 million people in the United States, or 85% of all Americans, are recommended to be vaccinated this year, including all children aged 6 months through 18 years, all adults aged 50 years and older, all health care professionals, and all pregnant women.
The press conference was sponsored in part by CSL Biotherapies, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, MedImmune Inc., Merck & Co., Novartis Vaccines, Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., and Sanofi Pasteur Inc.