HCPs in Long-Term Care Settings Consistently With Lower Influenza Vaccination Coverage

HealthDay News — More than 78% of health care personnel (HCP)¹ and 53.6% of pregnant women² received influenza vaccination during the 2016-2017 influenza season, according to 2 studies published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Carla L. Black, PhD, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues surveyed 2438 HCP to estimate influenza vaccination coverage. The researchers found that during the 2016-2017 season, 78.6% of survey respondents reported receiving vaccination, similar to reported coverage in the previous 3 seasons.

Coverage was highest for those working in hospitals compared with those working in ambulatory or long-term-care settings (92.3% vs 76.1% and 68%) and for those who were required by their employer to be vaccinated (96.7%), as in previous seasons.

Helen Ding, MD, from the CDC, and colleagues surveyed 1893 women pregnant at any time during October 2016 to January 2017. The researchers found that 53.6% of respondents reported having received influenza vaccination before or during pregnancy (16.2% and 37.4%, respectively); this was similar to coverage during the previous 4  influenza seasons.

Overall, 67.3%, 11.9%, and 20.7% of women reported receiving a provider offer for influenza vaccination, receiving a recommendation but no offer, and receiving no recommendation, respectively, similar to the previous influenza season; influenza vaccination coverage was 70.5%, 43.7%, and 14.8%, respectively, among these women.

“Use of evidence-based practices such as provider reminders and standing orders could reduce missed opportunities for vaccination and increase vaccination coverage among pregnant women,” Ding and colleagues write.

Several authors from both studies were employed by Abt Associates Inc., which conducted the Internet panel surveys.

Reference

1. Black CL, Yue X, Ball SW, et al. Influenza vaccination coverage among health care personnel — United States, 2016-17 Influenza Season. CDC. 2017; 66(38): 1009-1015.
2. Ding H, Black CL, Ball S, et al. Influenza vaccination coverage among pregnant women — United States, 2016-17 Influenza Season. CDC. 2017; 66(38): 1016-1022.