Influenza vaccination uptake in an Australian hospital: time to make it mandatory for health care workers?

To the Editor: Poor influenza vaccination uptake among Australian health care workers has recently come under scrutiny in the media.1 The Australian immunisation handbook recommends influenza vaccination for all health care workers to prevent influenza transmission to patients and other staff.2 Despite this recommendation, the proportion of health care workers vaccinated has remained low across Victoria.3 Nevertheless, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC) — a tertiary facility in Melbourne, Vic, responsible for the care of immunocompromised cancer patients — has recorded increasing vaccination uptake across four consecutive influenza seasons (Box). During our 2012 staff influenza vaccination program, overall vaccination uptake was 78% (1666/2138 employed staff); 76% and 88% among medical and nursing staff, respectively.