Download Talking Points - Wisconsin Medical Society

Talking Points
Spokespeople or person:
 Designate your spokespeople. A physician, epidemiologist, nurse or infection preventionist/quality
professional are credible on this topic.
Talking Points:
 An annual influenza vaccination protects our patients and the community.
o Caregivers interact with patients with compromised immune systems.
o Influenza is deadly, especially coupled with another illness.
o As many as 49,000 people in the United States die from the flu annually. (CDC numbers)
o People are contagious before symptoms arise.
 [ORGANIZATION/COALITION] believes that all health care entities should follow our lead.
o This practice is becoming more common in health care settings.
o It is in the best interest of our patients that each caregiver they see will not infect them
with most kinds of influenza.
 The influenza vaccine is safe.
o The vaccine is made from dead virus (injectable) or weakened virus (nasal spray) that
cannot infect a person.
o Decades of data have proven the safety of the vaccine.
o No vaccine is 100 percent effective in preventing any illness. While the flu vaccine is a good
match for what is circulating in the community, there is still a small chance that someone
who receives the vaccination will develop the flu. Data shows that these individuals have a
greatly reduced risk of needing hospitalization and are sick fewer days than those that get
the flu and have not been vaccinated.
 Exemptions
o Caregivers who are allergic to the vaccine are exempt (or other medical reasons).
o Other reasons, such as religion, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
 The vaccine
o [Include information about the “recipe,” for example, strains included, whether it is similar
to the previous year.]
 Other organizations advocating for this policy or following these guidelines include:
o American Academy of Pediatrics
o American College of Physicians
o American Hospital Association
o American Medical Association
o Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
o Immunization Action Coalition
o Infectious Disease Society of America
o National Patient Safety Foundation
o Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
o More: http://www.immunize.org/honor-roll/