CDC Reports That SNF Workers Most Likely Among Health Care Workers to Forego Recommended Vaccinations

Another revelation supporting the wisdom of an Aging-in-Place philosophy: Healthcare personnel working in long-term care settings have the lowest rate of influenza vaccine coverage according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   An article in McKnights reports that the CDC estimates that only 64% of long-term care workers received a flu vaccine during the 2014-2015 flu season, despite its urging that all healthcare workers receive a vaccine. The CDC estimated that 77% of all healthcare personnel, including medical and nonmedical staff, reported receiving a vaccine. Hospital workers reported the highest amount of vaccine coverage at 90%.

The long-term care industry is facilitating lower than average vaccination rates; long-term care workers were also the least likely to report that their employer required vaccination, or made vaccinations available to employees on site.  Moreover, vaccination rates are lowest among the very workers most frequently in contact with residents and patients.  A high percentage of workers in long-term care facilities are assistants or aides (61 percent) and this occupational group has the lowest coverage rate regardless of where they are employed.

Each season, flu causes millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands or sometimes tens of thousands of deaths. The rate of flu-related hospitalizations for people over 65 last year was the highest it had ever been, officials said. During a National Foundation of Infectious Diseases press conference on Thursday, officials urged healthcare workers to get vaccinated, especially those working with older adults.

To read other articles regarding the risk of infections in long-term care or skilled nursing facilities, go here and here.

To read an article about a new rule impeding transfers of elderly patients to hospitals, go here.