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ACIPC has released a statement of targeted recommendations to help better protect vital healthcare workers, essential service providers, and the public from influenza infection.
The position statement , Seasonal Influenza Vaccination, also includes several recommendations to improve safety for patients, residents and communities. These include equal and accessible access to the vaccine for everyone over 6 months, especially those at higher risk of illness, and incentivised programs by healthcare organisations to increase vaccination uptake among healthcare and essential service workers.
“For many, influenza can be a mild disease,” ACIPC President A/Prof Stéphane Bouchoucha said. “However it can cause serious illness in otherwise healthy people and even lead to hospitalisation and death.
“The World Health Organization estimates that influenza infects 1 in 5 unvaccinated children, and 1 in 10 unvaccinated adults, with around one billion cases per year occurring worldwide. In Australia, we have around 5,100 flu-related hospitalisations and 100 death a year, although ATAGI believes these statistics may be under-reported.
“The burden of seasonal influenza on the community and the healthcare system is significant, therefore ACIPC strongly recommends the provision of equitable, accessible and timely vaccination to all people over 6 months, with a renewed focus on higher risk groups in the population and in healthcare settings.”
ACIPC’s recommendations also include free vaccination for at-risk people and occupational groups with increased risk of exposure, and they call for employers to provide influenza vaccinations to their employees through staff health programs and initiatives to promote vaccination uptake.
“Vaccination is the best way to prevent acute infection and the severe outcomes influenza can cause,” A/Prof Bouchoucha said. “With new vaccines developed annually to match the viruses that are circulating, a high vaccination rate in the population provides our best defence against the health, community and economic effects of influenza.”
To read the position statement in full, click here.