Download Immunisation It is vital that educators and other staff are up to date

Immunisation
It is vital that educators and other staff are up to date with their vaccinations
Immunisation not only protects staff, but also the young children they work with, who may
be more vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, and may have more serious outcomes if
they do contract a vaccine-preventable disease.1
Employers of educators and other staff have an obligation to minimise the risk to all staff
from exposure to diseases that are preventable by vaccination. Immunisation of educators
and other staff is the only effective way to manage the risk in education and care services,
because many diseases are infectious before the onset of symptoms. This includes the family
of educators working in a family day care setting.
See ‘Main ways to prevent infection’ in Part 1 for more information on how immunisation
can help break the chain of infection.
Educators and other staff who are not immunised place children—especially younger age
groups—at greater risk of acquiring a vaccine-preventable disease. Educators and other staff
should be advised of the potential consequences if they refuse reasonable requests for
immunisation. These include:
being restricted to working with children over 12 months old
having to take antibiotics during outbreaks of bacterial diseases, even if the educator is not
sick
not being able to work at all during outbreaks of bacterial diseases.
Employers should:
develop a staff immunisation policy that states the immunisation requirements for educators
and other staff
develop a staff immunisation record that documents each staff member’s previous infection
or immunisation for the diseases listed below
require all new and current staff to complete the staff immunisation record
regularly update staff immunisation records as staff become vaccinated
provide staff with information about vaccine-preventable diseases; for example, through inservice training and written material, such as fact sheets
take all reasonable steps to encourage non-immune staff to be vaccinated.
Advice given to educators and other staff, and any refusal to comply with vaccination
requests, should be documented.
1
National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian immunisation handbook, 9th edn,
NHMRC, Canberra, 2008.
Recommended vaccinations for educators and other staff
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends that all educators
and other staff are immunised against:2
pertussis—this is especially important for educators and other staff caring for the youngest
children who are not fully vaccinated
measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) for educators and other staff born during or since 1966
who do not have vaccination records of two doses of MMR, or do not have antibodies
against rubella
varicella for educators and other staff who have not previously had chickenpox
hepatitis A, because young children may not show any symptoms, but they can be
infectious.
Additional vaccinations are recommended for special categories of educators and other staff:
Hepatitis B for educators and other staff who care for children with intellectual disabilities.
Although the risk is low, seek advice about hepatitis B immunisation if the children are not
immunised. Immunisation of the children should be encouraged.
Japanese encephalitis for educators and other staff who work in the outer Torres Strait
Islands for one month or more during the wet season.
All staff should also consider having yearly influenza vaccinations. Influenza is very infectious
and can spread through the air by coughing and sneezing, as well as by hands, cups and
other objects that have been in contact with an infected person’s mouth or nose.
Educators and other staff who are pregnant or immunocompromised (i.e. have a weakened
immune system) should seek advice from their doctor about vaccinations. Some vaccinations
are not recommended during pregnancy, or if a person has a disease or is undergoing
treatment that affects their immune system.
See ‘Infectious diseases during pregnancy’ on page XX for more information.
2
National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian immunisation handbook, 9th edn,
NHMRC, Canberra, 2008.
Scenario
There was an outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) in an education and care service.
Parvati, an educator, became ill several days after the first case was diagnosed. She had to
take time off work to see her doctor for some antibiotics, and to recover from the illness.
After a few days, she was well enough to return to work. Her employer noted that she had
not been immunised against pertussis, and asked if she would see a doctor to be vaccinated;
Parvati agreed, but she never quite got around to it. Two months later there was another
outbreak of pertussis at the education and care service. Because Parvati was not vaccinated,
she had to take more time off work to see her doctor and receive more antibiotics.
What should Parvati have done?
Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease—if Parvati had been vaccinated before she began
working at the education and care service, her chances of getting ill from pertussis would
have been very small. This would also have saved her time and money, because she would
not have had to take time off to see her doctor, or to pay for antibiotics.
What should Parvati’s employer have done?
All education and care service employers should have accurate records of their staff
members’ immunisations and when any boosters are due, and should review these records
regularly to keep them up to date.
Parvati’s employer should have had a clear policy for the education and service about
immunisations for staff, and made sure that all staff were aware of this policy.