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Influenza and Pneumococcal Vaccination and Tuberculin Skin Testing Programs In Long-Term Care Facilities: Where Do We Stand?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Margaret A. McArthur ,
Andrew E. Simor ,
Beverly Campbell  and
Allison McGeer
Margaret A. McArthur
Affiliation:
Departments of Microbiology, Princess Margaret/Mount Sinai Hospitals, Toronto, Ontario
Andrew E. Simor
Affiliation:
Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Beverly Campbell
Affiliation:
Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Health Protection Branch, Department of Health and Welfare, Canada
Allison McGeer*
Affiliation:
Departments of Microbiology, Princess Margaret/Mount Sinai Hospitals, Toronto, Ontario
*
Department of Microbiology, Room 690, Princess Margaret Hospital, 500 Sherbourne St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4X 1K9
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Abstract

Objectives:

1) To compare policies and procedures for distribution of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to long-term care facilities for the elderly in Canada, 2) to determine vaccination rates of residents and staff, and 3) to describe vaccination and tuberculin skin testing programs in these facilities.

Design:

A cross-sectional survey consisting of telephone interviews and a mailed questionnaire was conducted in the spring of 1991. Telephone interviews were conducted with provincial/territorial epidemiologists. The questionnaire was sent to all (N = 1,520) Canadian long-term care facilities for the elderly with ≥ 25 beds.

Results:

There were 1,270 responding facilities (84%). The mean overall influenza vaccination rate for residents was 78.5%. The mean vaccination rate was higher in those provinces in which the vaccine was paid for by the government (79% versus 71%; P= 0.002). Only 19% of facilities reported staff vaccination rates >25%; rates again were higher in those provinces in which vaccine for staff was provided by the government. Pneumococcal vaccine was offered to residents in 12% of the facilities. The proportions of facilities with >10% and >75% of residents vaccinated were significantly higher in the provinces where the pneumococcal vaccine was recommended and paid for as compared with those where it was not (P<0.001 for both). Tuberculin skin testing programs for residents existed in 360 long-term care facilities (28%) across the country.

Conclusion:

In 1990, the number of residents living in Canadian long-term care facilities who were vaccinated against influenza and Streptococcus pneumoniae was suboptimal. Staff influenza vaccination rates were very low across the country. Most facilities did not have a baseline tuberculin skin test status for their residents. Vaccination rates are higher in jurisdictions in which governments provide the vaccine without charge.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 18 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1995

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