Hospital Employee Health 2003-03-01

No need to rush? Hospitals go slow with smallpox vaccination plan

Caution prevailed over urgency as hospitals slowly began implementing the smallpox vaccination program in February. By taking extra safeguards and strictly limiting the health care workers receiving the vaccine, they hoped to avoid the adverse effects associated with the vaccine.

IOM: Safeguards are vital to smallpox program

Add more safeguards to ensure that the smallpox vaccination program is as safe as possible, a federal panel of medical experts urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Red, swollen arm? Sounds like a good ‘take’

If your vaccinated employees have red, swollen arms, swollen lymph glands, and fever, are they having an adverse reaction? Probably not, says William Schaffner, MD, professor and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN.

CDC answers questions about smallpox vaccine

Employees are likely to have a wide range of questions about caring for their injection site and protecting others from contracting the disease. Here are a few questions and answers provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

CDC: Death toll is rising for influenza

Death rates from influenza are rising with the aging of the U.S. population, and the virus now kills an average of 36,000 people a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The new data underscore the need to protect vulnerable patients from nosocomial spread by vaccinating health care workers, public health experts say.

NIH panel favors early HCV testing after stick

Health care workers should be tested for hepatitis C infection within two to eight weeks after exposure, an expert panel has recommended. Although the panel doesnt take a position on early treatment of hepatitis C, early testing offers that option.

From the PEPline: HCV and needlesticks: Fear often outweighs risk

Exposures to bloodborne pathogens can be frightening. Our experience at the PEPline, however, is that the health care workers fears can be substantially greater than the real risk of transmission. Educating the health care worker about the actual risk usually provides genuine reassurance and prevents unrealistic concern

Training shatters myths on bloodborne exposures

When needlestick injuries occur, work practices often are a contributing factor. Training is an essential component of maintaining safe practices. And while bloodborne pathogen training may focus on specific protective devices, it also needs to address and correct some common misconceptions.

News Brief: Ergo site offers free downloads, resources

Back injuries are second only to the common cold as a cause of absenteeism. And they are more than four times more common in health care than in other industries. After noting those facts, a new web resource offers basic information about ergonomics and links to dozens of other resources.

Literature Review: Rand Corp. identifies risks of smallpox vaccinations

How great is the risk of a smallpox attack? That question underlies the current campaign to vaccinate health care workers and military personnel and to offer the vaccinia vaccine to those who want it in the general public. The benefit of those vaccines cant be calculated without an estimate of the risk both of smallpox and of vaccine-related adverse events. Researchers at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, CA, have attempted to do just that.

Hospital Employee Health – March 1, 2003

March 1, 2003