Influenza vaccination for health care workers: towards a workable and effective standard.

Introduction In an average health care facility, more than half of employed health care workers, such as nurses, do not receive an annual infl uenza vaccination. If one of these nurses were to contract the infl uenza virus, she could be contagious for one to four days before symptoms began to appear, during which time she would likely continue to carry out her duties as a health care worker. During the course of a day, this nurse might have direct physical contact with 13 patients. Over two days, then, more than 25 patients could be exposed to the infl uenza virus as a result of being treated by the nurse. Out of these exposed patients, many could be chronically ill or elderly, and therefore particularly susceptible to complications caused by the infl uenza virus. It is possible that some vulnerable patients could die as a result of this