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For
Immediate Release January 24, 2006
RESEARCH
ALERT:
LESS
THAN HALF OF U.S. HEALTHCARE WORKERS GET FLU SHOTS FINDS UCLA/HARVARD
STUDY; HEALTHCARE WORKER'S LACK OF ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE PUTS PATIENTS
AT RISK
FINDINGS:
UCLA and Harvard researchers analyzed data from the 2000 National
Health Interview Survey to measure flu vaccination rates among U.S.
healthcare workers. From a nationally representative sample of 1,651
workers, the overall vaccination rate was only 38 percent. Rates
were particularly low in workers who were health aides (e.g. nurses
aides, medical assistants or orderlies), African American, or under
50.
IMPACT:
The low flu vaccination rate among healthcare workers increases
their likelihood of contracting the flu and passing it to patients.
Healthcare workers, especially those who are minority, poor, or
young, need both better education and improved access to primary
care in order to reduce the spread of flu. Inequalities in healthcare
currently undermine our ability to stop flu transmission. Should
an epidemic of bird flu emerge, such inequalities will hamstring
efforts to contain it.
BACKGROUND:
More than 36,000 people died between 1990 and 1999 from influenza,
the sixth leading cause of death in the nation. A severe pandemic
of bird flu might kill many times that number. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention recommend vaccinating healthcare workers
with direct patient contact as a priority in preventing spread of
the disease. Yet many healthcare workers lack access to healthcare
for their own medical needs. Earlier studies have found that 12.2%
of healthcare workers have no health insurance coverage. Workplace
vaccination programs are also failing to reach such workers.
AUTHORS:
Dr. William King, visiting assistant physician, Department of Infectious
Diseases, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; and Dr. Steffie
Woolhandler, physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and associate
professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, are available for
interviews. Two of the other authors work at Cambridge Health Alliance:
David H. Bor (Infectious Disease Specialist and Chairman of the
Department of Medicine) and David U. Himmelstein (Associate Professor
of Medicine, Harvard Medical School).
JOURNAL:
The research will appear in the February edition of the peer-reviewed
Journal of General Internal Medicine, Vol. 21, No. 2.
FUNDING:
Funding from the National Institutes of Health supported the research.
To
read the full article online:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00325.x
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