Safety

Infectious disease experts: Get the flu shot or decline, in writing

OSHA Healthcare Connection, January 30, 2007

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All physicians, nurses, and other health workers who care for patients should receive vaccination against influenza or decline the annual shot in writing, says the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

At a January 25 press conference, the group said it was making the strongest call yet to plug "a critical weakness in the nation's flu preparations." The ISDA urged Congress and the Bush administration to press for mandatory flu shots as it released a set of 12 recommendations to prepare for an influenza pandemic.

"It's our professional duty to first do no harm," said Andrew T. Pavia, MD, chair of IDSA's National and Global Public Health Committee. "Voluntary systems haven't brought immunization rates up far enough. For the sake of our patients, all healthcare workers must get a flu shot every year or they must be required to opt out in writing."



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