Newswise — Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly recommends that all healthcare workers receive seasonal flu shots, only about 40 percent do so.
Now some infectious diseases experts and hospitals say flu shots should be mandatory.
For example, Loyola University Health System announced Sept. 2 that annual flu shots will be mandatory for all employees, faculty, medical and nursing students at its main hospital and suburban health centers.
Loyola is among the first medical centers in the country to make flu shots mandatory. The policy will improve the safety of patients, visitors, employees and their families, said Dr. Paul Whelton, president and CEO.
Loyola health system and the Loyola University Chicago medical and nursing schools annually offer their employees, faculty and students a free vaccination for the seasonal flu. Last year when the seasonal flu shot was offered as part of an emergency-vaccination drill, Loyola and the Stritch School of Medicine school reached a vaccination rate of 73 percent. This year, with the vaccination being a condition of employment, the rate is expected to be 100 percent. Loyola University Medical Center has 6,140 employees; Stritch has 685
Health care workers with direct patient contact at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, which became part of the Loyola University Health System one year ago, also will be part of the mandatory vaccination initiative.
Health experts at the CDC and elsewhere are predicting that the coming flu season may be a particularly difficult one with the presence of both seasonal flu and the novel H1N1 ("swine") flu. For 25 years, the CDC has strongly recommended that health-care workers receive an annual vaccination for the seasonal flu.
"We know that the seasonal flu shot is safe and effective. It reduces infections and absenteeism among employees, prevents transmission to patients and reduces patient hospitalization and mortality," said Dr. Jorge Parada, medical director of infection control, LUHS. "We are committed to taking the right steps to minimize risk to our patients and our employees."
In mid-October, Loyola is planning a 36-hour vaccination drill at its main Maywood campus and its suburban health center locations. Although most employees will receive their vaccine during that drill, Loyola health-care workers with direct patient contact are being encouraged to receive the flu vaccine within the next two weeks so that they will be better protected from the very start of the flu season.
Even though the vaccine is not 100 percent effective, the CDC says it is the "most effective method for preventing influenza virus infection and potentially severe complications."
Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 28 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 561-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.
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