An intensive 5-year-long influenza vaccination campaign is effective among doctors but not nurses

To double the vaccination rates of hospital employees from 20 to 40% by specific interventions over a 5-year period (2003-2007). The secondary endpoint was to compare the effects of the avian influenza in 2005 (intervention period) and the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009 (follow-up period, 2008-2009) on vaccination rates.

Free vaccination and its intensive propagation from 2003-2007 in a 400-bed teaching hospital with 1,687 hospital employees. Annual vaccination rates were obtained from 2003 through 2009.

Yearly vaccination rates for the intervention period from 2003-2007 and the observational follow-up period of 2008-2009.

The overall rate for seasonal influenza vaccination changed non-significantly during the intervention period from 20% in 2003 to 27% in 2007. At the end of the follow-up period in 2009, the vaccination rate was 26%, which was not significantly higher compared with that in 2003. Physicians interestingly increased from 34% in 2003 to 62% in 2007 and to 66% in 2009 (p < 0.001), while nurses dropped non-significantly from an already low proportion of 18% in 2003 to 15% in 2007 and to 16% in 2009 for seasonal influenza vaccination. The difference between nurses and doctors in 2007 is highly significant (p < 0.001). In the year of the avian influenza threat (2005), a significant increase was observed (30 vs. 20%, p < 0.001). This observation was seen again in 2009 (influenza A/H1N1v pandemic), during which the H1N1 vaccine uptake was 33% (p < 0.001, compared to seasonal flu vaccine in 2003).

Overall, the vaccination rates did not increase over the 7-year study period. Interventions were successful for physicians but not for nurses. The vaccine uptake was significantly higher during the threat of avian influenza and the influenza A/H1N1v pandemic.