Challenges in influenza vaccination

Despite overwhelming evidence that influenza vaccination is a public health benefit (World Health Organization (WHO), 2019), vaccination targets are regularly missed in the UK. Perhaps the most surprisingly feature is the reluctance of many nurses to get themselves vaccinated (Zhang et al, 2012). This not only means that they may be vectors of influenza for the people whom they are nursing, but they are also more likely to be absent through an avoidable infectious disease, thereby increasing the workload for their colleagues.

The WHO (2019) has recently warned that influenza is a global health threat and has the potential to become a global pandemic unless nations take measures to ‘prevent, control and prepare’. The 2009 global H1N1 pandemic stimulated many nations to consider how to improve their responsiveness to disease threats. The recent recurrence of ebola in Africa, after the 2013–2016 pandemic, is a reminder that viruses, including the influenza virus, are constantly mutating and circulating, ready to threaten the population if a new subtype is able to spread efficiently among humans. The WHO (2019) endorses seasonal vaccination as the best intervention for preventing and reducing the impact of influenza. Further, vaccination reduces the health risks for those with long-term conditions and helps reduce the incidence of severe pneumonia as well as the inappropriate use of antibiotics for viral respiratory infections.