As autumn and winter approach (more rapidly than we might have wanted), attention is increasingly turning to this year’s national flu vaccination campaign. The NHS Employers organisation has taken on a leading role in kick-starting the 2011/12 national seasonal flu campaign for NHS staff. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness among staff of the opportunities and benefits of having the seasonal flu vaccination and ensure that the uptake among NHS staff is higher than ever before.
It’s clear that healthcare workers need to be particularly vigilant about not passing the flu virus on to the patients in their care, but it’s actually in the interests of all organisations to ensure that those who are entitled to the flu vaccination actually receive it, which will help keep sickness absence and subsequent reductions in productivity and customer service in check. Flu is a highly contagious acute viral infection that affects people of all ages regardless of general health and fitness, and it is one of the main causes of short-term sickness absence in UK workplaces. Vaccination is the simplest and most effective way of safeguarding against the spread of flu within the workforce each winter.
The NHS Employers website (www.nhsemployers.org) highlights some popular (and dangerous) myths about seasonal flu, some of which are listed below (adapted from the NHS Choices website):
- Myth 1: “Healthy people don’t get seasonal flu.” Anyone can contract the virus whether they are generally healthy or not. Around 15-20% of the population gets flu each year and could pass it onto others, including those who are at risk of serious illness.
- Myth 2: “Flu is a mild illness so I don’t need to be vaccinated.” For most people, flu is simply unpleasant. However, it can be much more serious, and globally accounts for 3-5 million cases of severe illness and between 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year.
- Myth 3: “The side effects of the vaccination are really bad – it gives you flu.” The flu jab contains no live viruses so cannot give you the flu. For most people the side effects are very mild (soreness around the site of the injection and occasionally some aching muscles or slightly raised temperature).
- Myth 4: “I’ve had the flu jab before so I don’t need it again.” People need to be vaccinated each year.
- Myth 5: “I’ve heard the vaccine doesn’t work.” The virus mutates so the vaccine cannot provide total protection, but it can give 60-70% protection for healthy adults.
- Myth 6: “I can’t have the jab because I’m pregnant.” Pregnant women should have the flu vaccination at any stage of their pregnancy. Having the vaccine protects their baby from flu over the first few months of life.
- Myth 7: “The flu jab contains pork products.” There are no pork-based products or processes used in the manufacture of the seasonal flu jab.
- Myth 8: “You’re infectious after having the jab, so you shouldn’t have close contact with anyone for a period of time after you’re immunised.” The vaccine won’t make you infectious to anyone so it’s safe to carry on as normal.
The flu jab is recommended for those in certain ‘at risk’ groups who are at greater risk of developing complications from flu (e.g. pregnant women; people with chronic asthma, diabetes, chronic heart disease; the over 65’s; frontline health or social care workers), but people outside these recommended groups can make arrangements to pay for a flu vaccination privately, if desired. In an uncertain economic climate it’s imperative that organisations keep their employees at work and fully productive so it’s well worth encouraging employees in ‘at risk’ groups to take up the vaccine. For guidance on this issue, or any other employee health-related matter, call the Health for Work Adviceline (www.health4work.nhs.uk) on 0800 0 77 88 44.
