Opinion: Flu shots for hospital workers save lives

Seasonal flu caused as many as 55,000 deaths in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It may surprise you to know that some of these deaths are likely the result of health-care workers transmitting the influenza virus to their patients. Hospitals have begun requiring their staff to get vaccinated, or wear masks if they cannot or will not get vaccinated. The mandates work: A CDC survey this year showed that hospitals, physician offices, long-term care facilities and other clinics with mandatory vaccination achieved 96% coverage for their workers, compared with 44% coverage in institutions that don't. A 2014 CDC study showed that health-care worker vaccinations reduce patients' risk of influenza-like illness by 42%. [Subscription Required]