INSTRUCTIONS
• These slides are templates to use for educational
purposes for your facility’s campaign to immunize
healthcare personnel against influenza
• Add to or change the slides to meet the needs of
your facility
• Add your facility’s branding according to your
facility’s policy
• Delete this slide and the final template slide
when creating your slide set. Slide #25 in this
set is for IPRO purposes ONLY.
Influenza Vaccine Facts
Facts About the Flu Virus
• Influenza (Flu)
– Among the most common respiratory illnesses
– Infects millions of people every flu season and
hospitalizes more than 200,000 people
– Between 1976 and 2006, estimates of yearly fluassociated deaths in the United States range from
a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000
people.
The Case for Healthcare Personnel
(HCP) Vaccination
• Rapid spread in health care settings
• Only 3 out of 5 nurses and other healthcare
workers get vaccinated
• Healthcare worker influenza immunization
rates remain around 60%, well below the
Healthy People 2020 goal of 90%.
Studies Show…
• Staff influenza immunization prevents:
– spread of the flu to patients, other workers, and families
– staff illness and missed days at work
– flu-related illness and death, especially among people at
increased risk for severe flu illness
• Facilities with higher numbers of immunized staff have
a lower risk of nosocomial (hospital-acquired) flu cases.
• Low flu vaccination coverage among HCPs is associated
with flu outbreaks in healthcare facilities.
Recommendation for
HCP Immunization
• The Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP) recommends that all
healthcare personnel, even those in training
for healthcare professions, should be
vaccinated annually against the flu in order to
reduce complications associated with the flu
in healthcare settings.
Professional Organizations Supporting
Mandatory Flu Vaccination of HCP
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American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
American College of Physicians (ACP)
American Hospital Association (AHA)
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC)
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
American Public Health Association (APHA)
National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF)
American Medical Directors Association (AMDA)
American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
National Business Group on Health
National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID)
Flu Vaccine is THE Most Important
Step to STOP the Flu
Flu IQ Quiz: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluiq.htm
• Answer: TRUE or FALSE
1.
2.
3.
4.
A flu vaccine can't give you the flu.
The "stomach flu" and influenza are the same thing.
Getting a flu vaccine in December or later is not too late.
Flu viruses change constantly which requires a new flu vaccine
to be produced each year.
5. Washing your hands is the best thing you can do to protect
against the flu.
6. The flu vaccine protects against three strains of flu.
7. The flu is typically spread through coughs and/or sneezes.
8. The flu is not a serious illness.
9. The flu vaccine is available as a shot or a nasal spray.
10. You can spread the flu to others before you have symptoms.
FLU IQ QUIZ ANSWERS
A flu vaccine can't give you the flu.
• TRUE!
– The flu vaccine cannot make you sick.
– The viruses in the vaccine are either killed before
making the vaccine (flu shot) or weakened (nasal
spray vaccine), so they cannot cause infection.
The "stomach flu" and influenza
are the same thing.
• FALSE!
– The flu is a respiratory (lung) disease, not a
stomach or intestinal disease. The main symptoms
of the flu are fever (usually high), headache,
extreme tiredness, dry cough, sore throat and
muscle aches. Stomach symptoms, such as
nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, also can occur but
are more common in children than adults.
Getting a flu vaccine in December or
later is not too late.
• TRUE!
– The timing of flu season is unpredictable and can
change from year to year.
– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommends that people take the flu vaccine as soon
as it’s available.
– People can get vaccinated anytime during the flu
season.
– The spread of the flu virus usually peaks in January or
February most years, but people can get infected as
early as October and as late as May.
Flu viruses change constantly which requires
a new flu vaccine to be produced each year.
• TRUE!
– Flu viruses are constantly changing in order to
survive (called “antigenic drift”) – they can change
from one season to the next or they can even
change within the course of one flu season.
Experts must study how the virus changes each
year and pick which viruses to include in the
vaccine.
– This is one reason why people need to get
immunized each year.
Washing your hands is the best thing
you can do to protect against the flu.
• FALSE!
– CDC recommends a flu vaccine as the first and
most important step in protecting against the flu.
– Covering your cough/sneeze and washing your
hands often are important everyday steps that can
help stop the spread of germs.
The flu vaccine protects against three
strains of flu.
• TRUE!
– While there are many different flu viruses, the flu
vaccine protects against the three main flu types that
tracking studies show will cause the most illness
during the flu season.
– The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends
which ones to include.
– The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Vaccines
and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee
(VRBPAC) makes the final decision on WHO's
recommendation for the United States.
The flu is typically spread through
coughs and/or sneezes.
• TRUE!
– Flu virus is mainly spread through droplets from
coughs and sneezes.
Cover your Cough/Sneeze!
• Droplets from a sneeze or
cough can travel about 100
mph and up to 6 feet away.
• University of Louisville
Hospital: “Puff” Daddy
Video http://news.discovery.com/
human/videos/newscoughing-robot-spews-flugerms.htm
Photo Credit: CDC/ Brian Judd
http://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp?pid=11161
The flu is not a serious illness.
• FALSE!
– Flu is a serious contagious disease. Each year in
the United States, on average, more than 200,000
people are hospitalized from flu complications and
36,000 people die from flu.
The flu vaccine is available as a shot or
a nasal spray.
• TRUE!
– Flu vaccine is also available as a nasal spray (brand
name FluMist®).
– The nasal spray flu vaccine is an option for
healthy* people 2-49 years of age who are not
pregnant.
• *"Healthy" indicates persons who do not have an underlying medical condition that
puts them at risk for influenza complications.
You can spread the flu to others before
you have symptoms.
• TRUE!
– You could infect others starting 1 day before you
feel sick and up to 5 days after becoming sick.
– That means that you may be able to pass on the
flu to someone else before you know you are sick,
as well as while you are sick.
Where YOU Can get the Flu Vaccine
• Your doctor
• Retail pharmacies (Walgreens, CVS, Walmart)
• Employer flu vaccine clinic
– {INSERT YOUR FACILITY’S INFORMATION HERE}
• Local public health clinic
No Vaccine: Wear the Mask
• {INSERT YOUR
FACILITY’S POLICY ON
USE OF MASK FOR
UNVACCINATED
EMPLOYEES}
Required Vaccination Documentation
• {INSERT YOUR FACILITY’S POLICY ON
REPORTING VACCINATION STATUS}
Questions?
• {INSERT YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION}
DELETE THIS ENTIRE SLIDE
ONCE YOU CREATE
YOUR FINAL POWER POINT
FOR IPRO PURPOSES ONLY
This material was prepared by IPRO, the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization for New York State, under contract with the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents do not
necessarily reflect CMS policy. 10SOW-NY-AIM7.4-13-22