The question of flu vaccination for healthcare professionals is an urgent and highly relevant one. After all, the devastating impact of flu is widely recognized, and flu vaccines are estimated to prevent thousands of admissions and millions of illnesses with current usage. At risk groups are well defined. Health care professionals work with the patients at risk on a daily basis. Annual vaccination is widely recommended to reduce the risk of healthcare acquired influenza. Why then is it so difficult to achieve influenza vaccine uptake levels in healthcare workers that would reduce or eliminate the risk of transmitting the disease?

In its 2019 Science Policy Influenza Summit, ESWI will attempt to answer that question in close collaboration
with its partner organizations. Together, we aim to develop a list of actions to stimulate the implementation of vaccination policies for health care professionals.

The meeting will be held in Marseille, France, on 20 November 2019, at the occasion of the 12th European Public Health Conference. For more information, click here.

On 28 September 2018, ESWI brought together 60 influenza stakeholders for a day of presentations and debates on paediatric influenza vaccination. The aim of the meeting was to bring childhood influenza vaccination to the next level and to that end ESWI organized a stakeholders table for partner organizations, combined with a number of scientific contributions, Q&A and debate. The event was available via live stream video, reaching 590 viewers worldwide, many of whom weighed in on the discussions via Twitter and e-mail.

The report of the lectures and the discussions held at the Summit can now be downloaded here.

The Influenza Diabetes Task Force, a newly founded international alliance of organizations dedicated to the protection of people with diabetes against influenza, launches a campaign on influenza & diabetes. It is the first multi-stakeholder international campaign advocating for the need to increase influenza vaccination rates among people with diabetes worldwide. The campaign will start at the beginning of the 2018-2019 Influenza season.

Microlearning Videos by International Experts to Educate about Influenza & Diabetes

Because the risks of influenza for people with chronic diseases can no longer be understated, respected members of the Influenza and Diabetes community developed 6, 30 seconds to 3 minutes micro-learning videos to educate on the link between influenza and diabetes. These videos are freely accessible at https://idc.mytonomy.com.

“The videos are short and engaging. They provide reliable and accessible information on influenza & diabetes, the flu vaccine, and how we can, as healthcare professionals, talk to our patients about getting vaccinated against influenza. I am proud to be part of this sound initiative that contributes to improving collective knowledge about influenza and diabetes.”, said Prof. Ab Osterhaus, Chairman of the European Scientific Working Group on Influenza.

A Campaign Targeting Healthcare Professionals to Achieve Better Protection of At-Risk Patients

Healthcare professionals have a privileged relationship with patients and are at high risk of being exposed to the influenza virus. For that reason, the first international Influenza & Diabetes Campaign is targeting clinicians. “All members of the healthcare team have an important role to play in preventing disease. Getting vaccinated ourselves and encouraging our patients to get the yearly vaccine is a smart step that we can all take to boost our immune protection against influenza. This simple message is at the heart of the Influenza & Diabetes International Campaign.” said Phyllis Zimmer, Founder and Chairman of the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation.

About Influenza & Diabetes

Influenza is a highly contagious respiratory illness. Anyone can get influenza, but some people have a much higher risk of getting very ill from the infection. People with diabetes are 3-6 times more likely to be hospitalized during influenza epidemics[1]. They also have a much higher rate of death associated with an influenza infection[2]. Moreover, studies have shown that influenza can make diabetes difficult to manage. This is why yearly influenza vaccination is recommended by the World Health Organization for high risk patients, including those with diabetes.

[1]Bouter KP, Diabetes Res Clin Pract 1991;12:61-8. Allard R, Diabetes Care 2010;33:1491-3.

[2]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/influenza-the-green-book-chapter-19(p4).