Factors and considerations for establishing and improving seasonal influenza vaccination of health workers: Report from a WHO meeting, January 16–17, Berlin, Germany
Vaccine·
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.07.079
- PMID
- 31500965
- PMCID
- PMC6868506
- OpenAlex
- W2971582291
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Health worker vaccination addresses dual risks of occupational infection and transmission to vulnerable patients, while also supporting pandemic preparedness. The guidance aims to help countries without policies establish them and to improve low coverage where policies exist.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The article addresses factors and considerations for establishing and improving seasonal influenza vaccination programs for health workers, particularly in settings where such policies are absent or coverage is low.
Study design
This is a meeting report summarizing discussions from a WHO convening held in Berlin in January, where an Independent External Advisory Group reviewed issues relevant to health worker influenza vaccination to inform the development of WHO guidance.
Population and setting
The focus is on health workers globally, with particular attention to countries in Africa and Asia that lack vaccination policies and to low- and middle-income countries facing challenges in monitoring and evaluation.
Main findings
The discussion covered policy considerations including supporting evidence for health worker vaccination, methods for categorizing and prioritizing health workers, vaccination strategy selection, integration into broader occupational health policies, communication and demand generation approaches, and monitoring and evaluation challenges especially in resource-limited settings.
Public-health relevance
Health worker vaccination addresses dual risks of occupational infection and transmission to vulnerable patients, while also supporting pandemic preparedness. The guidance aims to help countries without policies establish them and to improve low coverage where policies exist.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. The original meeting report is required for decision-grade interpretation of the advisory group's detailed recommendations and the full scope of evidence reviewed.
GIDS interpretation
The article was classified under Influenza and linked to Health policy and Vaccination topics, reflecting its focus on policy frameworks for occupational vaccination rather than disease surveillance or outbreak detection.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 11 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.