‘Foiling the Flu’ Means Getting Annual Immunizations

Episode # 68
Uploaded: September 7, 2011
Running Time: 03:03

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

Kids heading back to school aren’t the only ones who need their immunizations. NIH is gearing up for this year’s flu season and kicking off its annual vaccination program. Clinical Center health-care personnel, federal staff, and contractors have access to free flu shots, says Dr. Tara Palmore, an infectious diseases specialist at the Clinical Center and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. She says getting immunized adds a crucial layer of safety for the hospital’s highly vulnerable patients.

PALMORE: Health-care workers can protect themselves, their patients and their families by being vaccinated against flu every year. Health-care workers are one of the main sources of exposure to flu among inpatients in hospitals in general. So a vaccinated health-care worker population is a major step toward protecting patients.

CROWN: Dr. Palmore says that to ensure we meet this safety measure, NIH is continuing to strengthen its flu vaccine program. For example, health-care workers have to meet certain criteria, such as having a documented medical contraindication or religious exemption, in order to decline the flu shot. Dr. Palmore says they’re also making the vaccine schedule simpler and more convenient for staff. This year, there will be no vaccine clinic weeks exclusively for health-care workers. All NIH staff and all contractors are welcome and encouraged to get the vaccine.

PALMORE: Some people believe that their risk of getting very ill from influenza is low and that it is not important for them to take the vaccine. I think everyone needs to remember that it’s not just about us. It’s not just about protecting ourselves; it’s about protecting our patients, and families, and coworkers.

CROWN: Clinical Center nurse manager Beverly Smith who oversees the stem cell transplant unit says it’s that idea of protecting patients and coworkers, as well as herself and her family, that makes her feel so strongly about getting the flu vaccine.

SMITH: Yes, I would like to see 100 percent participation among our nurses. They’re like family after a while. They’re good people. And I would really hate to see something happen to those people when they can protect themselves simply by going and getting the flu vaccine.

CROWN: And if a coworker is afraid to get the shot, she’s says she has an answer for that, too.

SMITH: I can come with you. I can hold your hand. And the injection only takes a second. Then you’re good.

CROWN: Get a vaccination schedule and more facts online at http://www.foiltheflu.nih.gov
From America's Clinical Research Hospital, this has been CLINICAL CENTER RADIO. In Bethesda, Maryland, I'm Ellen Crown, at the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

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