What, in Fact, Is the Evidence That Vaccinating Healthcare Workers against Seasonal Influenza Protects Their Patients? A Critical Review/ Int J Family Medicine

Yet another just-published literature review, this time from Israel, finds mandatory healthcare worker flu vaccinations unsupported by the literature.

Int J Family Med. 2012;2012:205464. doi: 10.1155/2012/205464. Epub 2012 Nov 11. 

What, in Fact, Is the Evidence That Vaccinating Healthcare Workers against Seasonal Influenza Protects Their Patients? A Critical Review.
Abramson ZH. 

Source
Department of Family Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem 91120, Israel ; Beit Hakerem Community Health Center, Clalit Health Services, Haarazim 2, Jerusalem 96182, Israel. 

Abstract
Background and Methods. Vaccination of all healthcare workers is widely recommended by health authorities and medical institutions and support formandatory vaccination is increasing. This paper presents the relevant literature and examines the evidence for patient benefit from healthcare workervaccination. Articles identified by Medline searches and citation lists were inspected for internal and external validity. Emphasis was put on RCTs. The literature on self-protection from vaccination is also presented. Results. Published research shows that personal benefit from vaccinating healthy nonelderly adults is small and there is no evidence that it is any different for HCWs. The studies aiming to prove the widespread belief that healthcare worker vaccination decreases patient morbidity and mortality are heavily flawed and the recommendations for vaccination biased. No reliable published evidence shows that healthcare workers' vaccination has substantial benefit for their patients-not in reducing patient morbidity or mortality and not even in increasing patient vaccination rates. Conclusion. The arguments for uniform healthcare worker influenza vaccination are not supported by existing literature. The decision whether to get vaccinated should, except possibly in extreme situations, be that of the individual healthcare worker, without legal, institutional, or peer coercion.
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