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Vaccination of healthcare personnel in Europe: Update to current policies

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  • Vaccination of healthcare personnel in Europe: Update to current policies


    Vaccine. 2019 Oct 14. pii: S0264-410X(19)31285-X. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.09.061. [Epub ahead of print] Vaccination of healthcare personnel in Europe: Update to current policies.

    Maltezou HC1, Botelho-Nevers E2, Brants?ter AB3, Carlsson RM4, Heininger U5, H?bschen JM6, Josefsdottir KS7, Kassianos G8, Kyncl J9, Ledda C10, Medić S11, Nitsch-Osuch A12, de Lejarazu RO13, Theodoridou M14, Van Damme P15, van Essen GA16, Wicker S17, Wiedermann U18, Poland GA19; Vaccination Policies for HCP in Europe Study Group.
    Author information

    1 Department for Interventions in Health Care Facilities, Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: helen-maltezou@ath.forthnet.gr. 2 Clinical Trial Center, INSERM CICEC 1408, and Infectious Diseases Department, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, 42055 Saint-Etienne, France. 3 Department of Infectious Diseases and Department of Acute Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. 4 Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden. 5 University of Basel Children's Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. 6 Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg, Luxembourg. 7 Centre for Health Security and Communicable Disease Control, Directorate of Health, Reykjavik, Iceland. 8 Royal College of General Practitioners, Wokingham, United Kingdom. 9 Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, National Institute of Public Health, Prague, Czech Republic; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. 10 Occupational Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. 11 Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia; Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia. 12 Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. 13 National Influenza Centre, School of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology Department, Hospital Clinico Universitario, Valladolid, Spain. 14 Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, First Department of Pediatrics, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. 15 Centre for the Evaluation of Vaccination, Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. 16 General Practitioner, Amersfoort, the Netherlands. 17 Occupational Health Service, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 18 Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria. 19 Director, Mayo Vaccine Research Group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States.

    Abstract

    We investigated and compared current national vaccination policies for health-care personnel (HCP) in Europe with results from our previous survey. Data from 36 European countries were collected using the same methodology as in 2011. National policies for HCP immunization were in place in all countries. There were significant differences in terms of number of vaccinations, target HCP and healthcare settings, and implementation regulations (recommended or mandatory vaccinations). Vaccination policies against hepatitis B and seasonal influenza were present in 35 countries each. Policies for vaccination of HCP against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella existed in 28, 24, 25 and 19 countries, respectively; and against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and poliomyelitis in 21, 20, 19, and 18 countries, respectively. Recommendations for hepatitis A immunization existed in 17 countries, and against meningococcus B, meningococcus C, meningococcus A, C, W, Y, and tuberculosis in 10, 8, 17, and 7 countries, respectively. Mandatory vaccination policies were found in 13 countries and were a pre-requisite for employment in ten. Comparing the vaccination programs of the 30 European countries that participated in the 2011 survey, we found that more countries had national vaccination policies against measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis A, diphtheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, pertussis, meningococcus C and/or meningococcus A, C, W, Y; and more of these implemented mandatory vaccination policies for HCP. In conclusion, European countries now have more comprehensive national vaccination programs for HCP, however there are still gaps. Given the recent large outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe and the occupational risk for HCP, vaccination policies need to be expanded and strengthened in several European countries. Overall, vaccination policies for HCP in Europe should be periodically re-evaluated in order to provide optimal protection against vaccine-preventable diseases and infection control within healthcare facilities for HCP and patients.
    Copyright ? 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


    KEYWORDS:

    Europe; Healthcare personnel; Occupational; Policies; Vaccination

    PMID: 31623916 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.09.061

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