Studies Examine Employee Influenza Vaccination Policies, Respiratory Protection Programs

Residential care facilities can improve vaccination rates among employees by adopting effective employee vaccination policies, concludes a study published in the March 2014 American Journal of Infection Control. The researchers analyzed data from the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities and found that recommending vaccination to employees, providing vaccination on-site, providing vaccinations to employees at no cost, and requiring vaccination as a condition of employment were associated with higher employee influenza vaccination rates. In a separate study related to employee influenza vaccination published in the same issue, researchers evaluated the effect of a law passed in California in 2006, which requires all hospital workers in the state to receive annual influenza vaccination or decline in writing, on uptake and vaccination-related attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge among hospital healthcare personnel.