Influenza vaccination among healthcare workers – realization, promotion

Influenza vaccination is the most important component of prevention of occurring and spreading of this disease. 80% vaccination coverage of healthcare personnel provides a substantial reduction of transmission; each and every next vaccinated person results in a decrease of morbidity, especially amongst elder or immunocompromised patients. In the analyzed studies most common reasons of insufficient vaccination coverage among healthcare workers were fear of side effects, lack of knowledge, conviction of vaccine inefficiency, lack of feeling of social responsibility, and inadequate accessibility of vaccine. Healthcare workers who were vaccinated regularly did it mostly in order to provide safety to themselves, their relatives and patients; they did it also due to the knowledge of vaccination efficiency. The most effective actions to improve vaccination coverage were: vaccination requirement by the employer, active encouragement, effective promotion, better vaccine accessibility and promotion of vaccination as prosocial behavior. Offering surgical masks as an alternative did not improve vaccination rate in most analyzed studies. In conclusion, most important reasons of declining influenza vaccination by healthcare workers are lack of knowledge and low accessibility of vaccination, so evidently education, promotion and facilitating the vaccination in workplace are the most effective ways causing the growth of vaccination rate.