The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released figures showing that only 62% of healthcare professionals in the US received the seasonal flu vaccine between August 2009 and January 2010. An even lower 35% received the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

These are worrying statistics, given that previous studies found unvaccinated healthcare workers at least partially at fault for flu outbreaks in a neonatal intensive care unit in Ontario, Canada and a bone marrow transplant unit in New York City in 1998.

Such organisations as the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and the American Academy of Pediatrics have announced their support for mandating the vaccination of healthcare workers. These include all hospital employees, including students.

The mandate has not been well received by all. The American Nurses Association rejected it because the terms vary between hospitals and generally do not accept religious exemptions. New York state healthcare workers also filed a court case earlier this year.

However, experts insist that “without a mandate, immunization rates have not been as high as they could or should be”. Henry Bernstein, a member o the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics, continued: “Voluntary programs have not been successful enough, so we need to require influenza vaccine to get our immunization rates as close to 100% as we can”.

Influenza hospitalises 200,000 a year, and kills thousands more. While mandating vaccination would prevent many casualties, it rightly raises the issue of rights infringements.