HSC staff protect themselves and others by getting the flu vaccine
Health and social care (HSC) workers throughout Northern Ireland are being urged by the Public Health Agency (PHA) to help reduce the spread of flu in health and social care settings by getting the free flu vaccine.
The message from the PHA is ‘Don’t risk flu infection, get vaccinated early’.
Mater Hospital nurse Roisin King explained that getting the flu vaccine was the sensible thing to do.
“Because HSC staff are generally fit and healthy and therefore not in the clinical ‘at risk’ groups, we don’t think about getting the flu vaccine. And when you are busy during the working day it’s easy to keep putting off going to get the vaccine,” she said.
“But as we’re dealing with lots of different people throughout the day, getting the flu vaccine made sense to me. By having the vaccine I am fit to do my job, I don’t need to worry about giving the flu to any of my patients and I also don’t need to worry about catching the flu in work and bringing it home to my family.”
The seasonal flu uptake rate amongst health and social care workers in 2011/12 increased to an average of 20% across all HSC organisations. While this increase is welcome, uptake of the vaccination is still much too low. This year a target of 25% has been set.
All HSC staff are advised to get the vaccination early so that they are protecting their family, their patients and themselves.
Roisin added: “I get the flu vaccine every year and this is the first day of the HSC flu clinics at the Mater Hospital so I have made the effort to be here this morning.”
“I’ve no worries about getting the vaccine as I have looked at the written advice in the PHA leaflet and I know the viruses in the vaccine are inactivated (dead) and cannot cause flu, so for me the benefits far outweigh any disadvantages.”
Dr Richard Smithson, PHA Flu Vaccination Lead, said: “It is of utmost importance to protect yourself against the flu virus. It is essential to get the vaccine early before the virus starts circulating as it takes two weeks to get full protection from the vaccine.
“By reducing your own risk you’re also helping to reduce the risk of illness for your patients, many of whom will be particularly vulnerable to flu.
“Remember, flu is infectious from very early in the illness so you may be passing it on before you realise what is wrong with you.
“And if you catch the flu you could be passing it on to those close to you, bearing in mind the young, the elderly and those in ‘at risk’ groups are particularly vulnerable to complications.”
Virtually all developed countries now recommend the flu vaccine for health care workers following research which shows the vaccination is safe and effective.
It is particularly important that all health and social care workers who have direct contact with patients in hospitals, in primary care and in community settings are vaccinated and they are urged to take advantage of this opportunity. However, because the vaccine is considered to offer advantages to everyone, it is being made available to all employees even if they don’t have any patient contact.
The vaccine contains three strains of the flu virus which are thought to be most likely to be circulating this winter.
The earlier you get vaccinated the better, as it takes the body about 10-14 days after the injection to develop antibodies. These will then protect you against the same or similar viruses if the body is exposed to them.
HSC flu clinics are being held in all Trusts contact your Occupational Health Department for details.
For more information on public seasonal flu programme go to www.fluawareni.info and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/publichealthagency) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/publichealthni).