Despite worldwide recommendations and specialized initiatives, and despite the fact that vaccination of health-care workers (HCWs) is regarded as the primary preventive strategy for nosocomial influenza, vaccination coverage (VC) among HCWs remains low. The time required to attend a vaccination clinic is one of the most significant obstacles to vaccine uptake. In order to enhance vaccine compliance among HCWs, the Hygiene and Occupational Medicine departments at Bari Policlinico General University-Hospital sponsored an on-site vaccination program in eight Operative Units during the 2017/18 influenza season (OUs). Researchers studied influenza VC among HCWs at Bari Policlinico, comparing VC after the Hygiene department implemented an on-site approach during the 2017/18 influenza season versus VC in the 2016/17 season. For the 2017/18 season, they also compared VC in OUs that were the objective of the on-site approach to data from eight “control” Units that were not included in the on-site offer. In the 2016/17 season, 71 HCWs were vaccinated in OUs targeted for on-site vaccination, and 126 in the 2017/18 season, with 101/126 immunized in an on-site clinic. VC in OUs target of on-site vaccination grew by 16.8 10.4 percent between 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons, whereas coverage in OUs of the control group climbed by 1.6 2.2 percent, with a significant difference.
According to findings, the availability of on-site vaccination during the 2017/18 season increased VC in HCWs as compared to the traditional vaccination clinic strategy. The factors of adhesion and non-adhesion must be studied in depth in order to test new effective clinical practices to enhance vaccination coverage in HCWs in the future.
Reference: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21645515.2019.1625645
