Published on September 9, 2010 at 3:03 AM
USA Today: "The American Academy of
Pediatrics plans to call for all health workers to get flu vaccinations, saying unvaccinated doctors, nurses and other medical staffers pose a threat to patients. The academy, which represents 60,000 pediatricians, is the latest of several organizations that now back mandatory flu shots for health workers. ... 'They're all unanimously saying this is a patient-safety issue,' says Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic's
vaccine research group. ... The new push to make flu shots compulsory for health workers was prompted by low vaccination rates during last year's swine flu
pandemic, Poland says." According to the CDC, less than 40 percent of health workers got vaccinated last season (Sternberg, 9/7).