More than Medicine: Safety Archives

Recently in Safety Category

Leading by Example

By Michael M, GSK Communications on August 19, 2009 8:43 AM | No Comments

It's the time of year that healthcare providers should be asking if you intend to get a flu shot to protect yourself from seasonal flu. This year, you might consider posing the same question to them.

Amazingly, the CDC reports that just 42% of healthcare workers nationwide get a flu shot. In some places, fewer than a quarter of workers in a hospital or physician office are getting vaccinated. That means not only are they leaving themselves unprotected from flu, but they may also be a potential source of flu infection for patients.

Last year, GSK and the Joint Commission Resources (JCR), a non-profit affiliate of the hospital accreditation organization the Joint Commission, have teamed up to turn this trend around. The Flu Vaccination Challenge aims to increase overall flu immunization rates in hundreds of hospitals across the country. More than 1,700 hospitals--including at least one hospital from each of the 50 states--participated.

The results are in. As part of the Challenge:

· Over 1.1 million healthcare workers received a flu shot

· Approximately 85% of participating hospitals increased healthcare worker vaccination rates over the prior year

· On average, participating hospitals saw a 14% increase in flu vaccination rates over the prior year

The results are encouraging, but we can do better. So where do we go from here?

This season, GSK and JCR will "raise the bar." The Challenge will introduce a tiered approach towards achieving this year's vaccination goals. Health care facilities will be challenged to reach a 65, 75 or 90 percent vaccination rate. The goals were determined by evaluating last year's results, and are designed to encourage health care facilities to strive for a better vaccination rate, based on prior year achievement. The Challenge will also be open to healthcare workers in ambulatory and long-term care facilities, emphasizing the importance of flu vaccination and patient safety beyond the hospital setting.

The 2009 Flu Vaccination Challenge begins today and will continue through the flu season until May 2010. For additional information regarding how HCWs can help improve their flu vaccination rates, please visit www.FluVaccinationChallenge.com.

* Data are self-reported by each participating hospital and is not a standardized study of all U.S. health care workers.

Joint Commission Resources received funding and other support from GlaxoSmithKline for the Flu Vaccination Challenge initiative.

A Shot of Prevention Goes a Long Way

By Isabelle, GSK Policy on July 8, 2009 12:48 PM | 2 Comments

It's sort of weird, but getting shots occupies a very real space in my memories of childhood. Like lining up in the school cafeteria and going behind a big green screen to get my first polio shot. Or the fact that my older brother typically hid behind some piece of furniture in the doctor's office when his turn came for a shot.

But my brother and I never really questioned why we were getting the shots and our mother certainly didn't--in part, because it was obvious to us so many of those diseases--smallpox, polio, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis--were becoming very rare in the U.S., thanks to vaccines.

Yet, with some children not getting their vaccines on time or at all, we're now seeing more of the same diseases I thought were left behind in my childhood. Measles cases are at a ten year high, pertussis (whooping cough) is no longer uncommon and even Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) has claimed the lives of children in recent months.

Now, as head of policy and advocacy for GSK's vaccine division, I look at vaccines in the much broader context of public health. Unlike prescription drugs, which treat the individual, vaccines can help protect many others in the community from some diseases. When you vaccinate your child, you also may be helping to protect other children in some situations. Unfortunately, I feel that the understanding of the value of on-time vaccination has been lost, simply because as communities, we no longer feel the threat of some pretty awful diseases.

That's why it concerns me that misinformation is floating around about the value and safety of childhood vaccines. In addition to my position at GSK, I am a mother myself--and now a grandmother. I have the highest regard for any parent's concerns about a child's health and welfare. It's just that when it comes to vaccines, parents may not be aware of the decades of scientific and clinical research and practice on all aspects of vaccines.

My simple request is that before making a decision about your own child, please talk with your child's doctor--and take the time to inform yourself through some reputable Web sites like:

http://www.vaccinateyourbaby.org/

http://www.whattoexpect.org/news/immunizations

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/default.htm

http://www.cispimmunize.org/pro/pdf/Vaccineschedule.pdf

http://www.pkids.org/move.php

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/basic/safety.htm

http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=81901

(Photo courtesy of University of Mary Washington).

Recently in Safety Category

Leading by Example

A Shot of Prevention Goes a Long Way

Categories

Monthly Archives

FYI

Search

About this Archive