Just 56 percent of Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center employees got their flu shots during the 2006-2007 flu season — but that all changed when the hospital eventually implemented a mandatory vaccination policy, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control and covered by Reuters.
The study spanned eight years, looking at influenza vaccination rates and its effect on flu cases in cancer patients.
MD Anderson implemented a mandatory participation program in 2009, and then rolled out a policy in 2012 requiring workers to either get vaccinated or wear a surgical mask with each patient contact. Employees could be fired if they didn't comply.
This change led to 94 percent of employees getting their flu shot in the 2013-2014 season.
The increase in employee flu shots was tied to a decrease in the number of hospital-acquired flu cases in patients — 6 percent of the total flu cases in the 2006-2007 season were acquired in the hospital, while just 2.3 percent of cases in the 2013-14 season were hospital-acquired.
"Mandatory flu vaccination programs are the most effective mechanism for increasing healthcare worker vaccination rates," said Elizabeth Frenzel, MD, the study's lead author, according to Reuters.