Influenza vaccine coverage among health care workers in Victorian public hospitals

Objective: To assess influenza vaccine uptake among health care workers in Victorian public hospitals in 2005. Design, setting and participants: Infection control staff in all Victorian public hospitals were asked to collect standardised data on numbers of non-casual staff and vaccinations administered to these staff during the 2005 vaccination period. Main outcome measures: Proportion of total non-casual staff vaccinated; proportion of non-casual staff vaccinated in various staff categories: Results: Seventy-four of 122 hospitals or health services (85 individual campuses) submitted data for 63 330 non-casual staff. The overall proportion vaccinated in 2005 was 38%, ranging from 34% for non-clinical staff to 42% for laboratory staff. Conclusion: Vaccine uptake among staff in Victorian hospitals is low, and increased uptake is desirable to improve staff health and reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired influenza and the risk to patients.