An annual report from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health points out that a significant number of hospital staff is not immunized for influenza.
At the low end was a hospital with 37.7 per cent of its staff immuniczed. At the high end a hospital had 87.2 per cent vaccinated.
The survey was conducted between Sept. 15, 2018 and March 15, 2019.
The immunication number is even lower for some retirement homes and long-term care facilities in the region, with one facility having 25.8 per cent of staff vaccinated.
One long term care facility had 100 per cent of staff vaccinated.
The report points out that influenza and the difficulties it causes makes it the leading cause of death in Canada. On average, there are 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths that are related to the sickness every year according to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the highest mortality usually occurs in adults 65 years of age or older.
Immunization for staff is not mandatory in hospitals in Ontario and Ontario’s Universal Influenza Immunization Program offers free immunizations to anyone six months of age or older in the province.
“There's no legal basis for us to force someone to have a vaccine,” said human resources director Karen Suk-Patrick at the Guelph General Hospital.
She said every year they have an immunization campaign with a cart that goes on every floor to get as many staff vaccinated as possible.
“We also communicate the evidence supporting vaccination and vaccination safety. There’s quite a large effort and push every year around getting our immunization numbers,” said Suk-Patrick.
“We promote immunization, we provide education, we talk about the importance of patient safety not spreading the flu themselves, their family or patients.”
The Guelph General Hospital runs surveillance programs like many other hospitals to look out for the prevalence of influenza-like symptoms in hospitals. When there is an outbreak, staff with influenza are either deployed to other parts of the hospital or sent home.
“It's difficult to make it mandatory in those settings because of the nature of the management-union relationship but it is up to the individual to decide whether they're going to be immunized or not,” said communication manager Chuck Ferguson at the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
“There is a very active push but it's about the relationship between the employer and the employee and the employee can make the choice.”
The Public Health report, authored by Public Health manager of vaccine for preventable diseases Marlene Jantzi-Bauman, reveals that a total of 89,427 vaccination doses were administered or distributed to healthcare providers and facilities in the region.
