Opportunities to improve influenza vaccination rates in general medical inpatients

Abstract

Influenza vaccination is an important preventative health measure. A significant proportion of general medical inpatients meets indications for annual inactivated influenza vaccination (IIV), as recommended by the Australian National Immunisation Programme. This study explores opportunities to provide IIV to eligible general medical inpatients and associated barriers.

Cost‐analysis of opportunistic influenza vaccination in general medical inpatients

“…Despite this, annual vaccine coverage rates in the community remain suboptimal, ranging from 44% to 82% 7 . A recent study at our institution during the 2017 influenza season found that amongst vaccine‐eligible patients admitted to the general medical unit, 33% were unvaccinated at admission and 28% were eligible for inpatient vaccination 8 . Opportunistic vaccination may serve as an important strategy to improve vaccine coverage.…”

“…This retrospective cohort study was approved by The Alfred Health Ethics Committee (Project No: 702/18) and by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (Project No: 19162). The subjects included in the present study were derived from our previous cross‐sectional study, which comprised of a total of 200 patients admitted to the General Medical Unit at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, during the 2017 influenza season 8 . The methodology for recruitment and data‐analysis was previously described by Zaman et al 8 .…”

“…The subjects included in the present study were derived from our previous cross‐sectional study, which comprised of a total of 200 patients admitted to the General Medical Unit at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, during the 2017 influenza season 8 . The methodology for recruitment and data‐analysis was previously described by Zaman et al 8 . Here, we included the cohort of 56 unvaccinated patients who were eligible to receive inpatient vaccination (28% of the original cohort; including 10 patients in whom consent and other barriers were overcome).…”

“…To conduct the sensitivity analysis, a conservative estimate of 67% was used for vaccine coverage, similar to outpatient rates in our previous study 8 . The costs of opportunistic influenza vaccination were based on the study by Boer et al ., 13 which estimated the cost of vaccination to be $18 per patient, which comprised vaccine cost, consumables and staff time.…”