What's New
Foil the Flu 2008 - 2009 - Updated 8/19/2008
As summer winds down, the leaves start to turn and thoughts turn to flu vaccinations. Available free of charge to all those with an NIH employee badge, the vaccine will be offered starting in October.
New this year, NIH has modified the flu vaccine requirements, making it mandatory for all NIH employees who have contact with Clinical Center patients. The Medical Executive Committee approved this new requirement in February 2008.
Despite solid evidence that vaccinating health care workers protects patients from influenza, the health care workforce has a surprisingly low rate of influenza vaccination. An emerging consensus among public health experts has led the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) to call for universal vaccination of health care workers. In a concerted effort to promote patient safety and reduce the risk of hospital-based transmission of influenza, the CC has adopted this strategy.
NIH employees with patient contact who are unable to be vaccinated due to a contraindication will be required to sign a contraindication form. NIH employees with patient contact who are unwilling to be vaccinated for other reasons will be required to sign a declination form explaining their reason.
The influenza vaccine for the 2008-2009 season contains the following strains recommended by the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee: A/Brisbane/59/2007 (H1N1)-like virus, A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus, and B/Florida/4/2006-like virus.
The vaccination schedule and locations will run in the October CC News and be posted on the Division of Occupational Health and Safety website http://foiltheflu.nih.gov. If you have questions about the influenza vaccine, please call the CC Hospital Epidemiology Service at 301-496-2209.
