CDC encourages healthcare workers to get vaccinated for flu

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging healthcare workers to get the annual flu vaccine.

In a recent posting on www.flu.gov, the agency notes that healthcare workers “have a special role in the fight against influenza.” They can protect their health their families' health and the health of their patients, the posting says. Higher vaccination rates among these workers can reduce influenza-like illness, and even deaths, in settings such as nursing homes, the agency says.

The CDC notes that it and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommend that all healthcare workers get the flu vaccine. Fewer than half of healthcare workers get the vaccine, according to the CDC.