“Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in acute-care hospitals” by Benet et al. (2012) and available through Monroe College Medline database, is an example of an article explaining a case study about the effects of influenza vaccination of healthcare workers (HCW) on hospital-acquired influenza (HAI) among patients. However, there is no documented proof of the protective effect of (HCW) vaccination in acute-care units on the spread of hospital-acquired influenza (HAI). The author’s primary goal is to prove the efficiency of vaccinating HCW against the spread of HAI amongst the patients.
To understand the effectiveness of HCW vaccination, the author uses a “nested case-control investigation” in studying “influenza-like illness (ILI)” in a tertiary acute–care University hospital (Benet et al. 2012). The cases used by the author are the patient with virologically-confirmed influenza that occurred more than 72 hours after being admitted. Controls were patients who had ILI that presented themselves throughout hospitalization with harmful influenza results after nasal swab testing. The author used four controls for every case and matched each with the season of influenza, i.e. (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07), which were selected randomly. The models used by the author in assessing the factors associated with HAI among patients were “univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression models” Benet et al., (2012). Therefore, this helped the author evaluate factors related to HAI.
It is critical to understand that Benet et al. (2012) do not try to convince people that vaccinating HCW effectively prevents the spread of HAI. However, the author’s observational outcome indicates a protective result of more than 35 percent of vaccinated HCW on the spread of HAI in acute-care patients. Nevertheless, additional research on restricted clinical tests is required to validate the effectiveness of HCW vaccinations on incidences of HAI infections in patients.
Reference
BĂ©net, T., RĂ©gis, C., Voirin, N., Robert, O., Lina, B., Cronenberger, S., &… Vanhems, P. (2012). Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in acute-care hospitals: a case-control study of its effect on hospital-acquired influenza among patients.BMC Infectious Diseases, 12(30), 1-6. Available through Monroe College Medline database. Web.