The Seasonal Flu Vaccine: If You're a Health Care Worker, It's Not Just About YOU!

Episode # 47
Uploaded: October 26, 2010
Running Time: 5:38

SCHMALFELDT: From the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, this is CLINICAL CENTER RADIO.

It's the most wonderful time of the year... if you happen to be a flu virus. Think of it. The weather's getting cooler, folks are out and about beginning their holiday shopping, kids are coming into daily contact with other kids at school. If you're a flu virus, these are your glory days! If you're NOT a flu virus, chances are you want to make sure you do not fall victim to this wily invader. That's why getting a seasonal flu vaccination is almost always a good idea. It's especially important if you're a health care provider, according to the NIH Clinical Center's deputy hospital epidemiologist Dr. Tara Palmore. Not only are you protecting yourself, you're protecting your patients.

PALMORE: One important factor is that patients who are immunospuppressed, usually do not mount an appropriate antibody response to influenza vaccine. So if we vaccinate patients they will not be protected because they can’t mount an immune response to the vaccine that provides protection. So if everyone around them is vaccinated and takes care not to have contact with patients if they do become ill, then patients who are in the hospital have a minimal risk of acquiring influenza in the hospital.

SCHMALFELDT: Yet, oddly enough, even with all the educational material available about the benefits of getting a yearly seasonal flu shot, some folks still resist.

PALMORE: The most common reason was concern about side effects, and side effects of flu vaccination are almost always very predictable, you can have a sore arm, I have a sore arm, I just got vaccinated yesterday. You have a sore arm, sometimes you have a little redness, and sometimes you can feel achiness beyond the arm because of the immune response that your body mounts to the vaccine. A lot of people are worried about acquiring flu from the vaccine. You cannot acquire flu from the flu shot because the flu shot is made only with killed virus.

SCHMALFELDT: And if you're a health care provider who is scared of needles, and you think the "flu mist" is a suitable substitute for a seasonal flu shot, think again.

PALMORE: Flu mist is not an acceptable vaccine for staff who have face to face contact with patients because flu mist is a live intranasal vaccine. The virus in flu mist is live, it is attenuated so it does not give the recipient of the vaccine flu but the flu mist virus can potentially be transmitted to immunocompromised patients. Staff members should not receive flu mist and if they do so inadvertently they need to stay away from patient care for at least seven days after the vaccine. Staff at NIH who do not have face to face contact with patients may receive flu mist vaccines if they qualify for them. they are eligible.

SCHMALFELDT: Whatever you, as a health care worker, decide about flu vaccinations, there's one thing you need to remember. It's not just about you and your health.

PALMORE: Some folks have declined vaccinations because they believe that if they get flu, they will do just fine. And for the most part that’s true, but we know from the H1N1 pandemic last year that pregnant woman can develop very serious complications of influenza even if they were healthy to begin with. We also know that our patients can get severely ill, so flu vaccination is not just about us. So yes, I will almost certainly survive the flu and I may need to take a few days off if I am not vaccinated and acquire flu, but if I transmit that to a patient I could be threatening their health and their life.

SCHMALFELDT: As always, good flu hygiene is important. Wash your hands frequently. Cough or sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue. And if you are a health care worker and get the flu? Stay home.

PALMORE: If a patient care provider suspects they have the flu, they should go home. Or if they are at home, stay home. And stay away from patients until at least 24 hours past the peak of their symptoms if not longer, depending on the case. They can contact the occupational medical service for specific guidance on when to return to work.

SCHMALFELDT: For more information about the seasonal flu vaccination program at the NIH Clinical Center, as well as information about one of the 1,500 clinical trials and studies performed here, log on to http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov. From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Bill Schmalfeldt at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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