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. 2015;11(1):95-100.
doi: 10.4161/hv.34362. Epub 2014 Nov 1.

Influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in Italy

Cristiano Alicino  1 , Rocco Iudici, Ilaria Barberis, Chiara Paganino, Roberto Cacciani, Monica Zacconi, Angela Battistini, Dorotea Bellina, Anna Maria Di Bella, Antonella Talamini, Laura Sticchi, Alessandra Morando, Filippo Ansaldi, Paolo Durando
Affiliations

Influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in Italy

Cristiano Alicino et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2015.

Abstract

Influenza vaccination is a fundamental tool for the prevention of influenza in healthcare settings and its administration to healthcare workers (HCWs) is recommended in more than 40 countries including United States of America and many countries of the European Union. Despite these recommendations, the compliance of HCWs to influenza vaccination is largely inadequate in Italy. Since 2005/06 season, a comprehensive multifaceted intervention project aimed at increasing the seasonal influenza vaccination coverage rates among HCWs was performed at the IRCCS AOU San Martino IST teaching hospital in Genoa, Italy, the regional tertiary adult acute-care reference center with a 1300 bed capacity. Despite almost a decade of efforts, the vaccination coverage rates registered at our hospital steadily remain unsatisfactory and very distant by the minimum objective of 75% defined by the Italian Ministry of Health. During the last influenza season (2013/14), vaccination coverage rates by occupation type resulted 30% among physicians, 11% among nurses and 9% among other clinical personnel. Further efforts are necessary to prevent the transmission of influenza to patient and novel strategies need to be identified and implemented in order to increase the compliance of HCWs, particularly nurses, with the seasonal influenza vaccination.

Keywords: Influenza; healthcare workers; immunization; vaccine.

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Figures

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Figure 1. Vaccination coverage rates among healthcare workers of IRCCS AOU San Martino, IST of Genoa during 9 consecutive seasons.
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Figure 2. Vaccination coverage rates to occupation type among healthcare workers of IRCCS AOU San Martino, IST of Genoa during 8 consecutive seasons.
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Figure 3. Vaccination coverage rates to occupation type among healthcare workers (HCWs) of IRCCS AOU San Martino, IST of Genoa included and not included in the pilot project.
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Figure 4. Setting of influenza vaccination among healthcare workers of IRCCS AOU San Martino, IST of Genoa during 9 consecutive seasons.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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