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LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2010 | Volume
: 5
| Issue : 4 | Page : 250 |
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| Influenza vaccination program for medical workers |
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Viroj Wiwanitkit
Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok - 10160, Thailand
| Date of Web Publication | 7-Sep-2010 |
Correspondence Address:
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Wiwanitkit House, Bangkhae, Bangkok - 10160
Thailand
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1817-1737.69123
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How to cite this article:
Wiwanitkit V. Influenza vaccination program for medical workers. Ann Thorac Med 2010;5:250 |
Sir,
I read the recent publication on influenza vaccination program for medical workers with a great interest. [1] Al-Otaibi et al. reported that "engaging nurses from all departments may have contributed to this high influenza vaccine coverage, especially among nurses". [1] I would like to share ideas on this specific issue. First, the basic question to be discussed is "forced" or "not forced" vaccination for medical workers. In some countries, in the pandemic influenza status, medical workers are forced to get influenza vaccine to assure that they will be safe for getting disease from the patients and they will not transmit the disease to the patients on the other hand. Second, it is interesting that although medical workers have higher knowledge on disease, their decision to get or not to get vaccine seems to be based on emotional factor. Finally, "what is the best technique to promote the highest rate of vaccination?" is the interesting question. A recent report by Talbot et al. stated that "Vaccination programs that emphasized accountability to the highest levels of the organization, provided weekend access to vaccination, and used train-the-trainer programs had higher vaccination coverage". [2]
 References | |  |
| 1. | Al-Otaibi BM, El-Saed A, Balkhy HH. Influenza vaccination among healthcare workers at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia: Facing challenges. Ann Thorac Med 2010;5:120-1.  [PUBMED]  |
| 2. | Talbot TR, Dellit TH, Hebden J, Sama D, Cuny J. Factors associated with increased healthcare worker influenza vaccination rates: Results from a national survey of university hospitals and medical centers. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2010;31:456-62. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT] |
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| This article has been cited by | | 1 |
Authorsę reply |
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| El-Saed, A., Al-Otaibi, B., Balkhy, H. | | Annals of Thoracic Medicine. 2010; 5(4): 250-251 | | [Pubmed] | |
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