Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) requires immunization of all students per policy 2.01. Requirements are guided by current recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for health care providers. This policy covers the administration of influenza vaccine(s) only; influenza vaccination is the most effective method for preventing influenza and influenza-related complication. All OU-COM students are considered Health Care Personnel (HCP) because they have direct contact with patients beginning in year 1 through the CCE program and continuing through year 4 of clinical rotations at CORE and other hospitals; therefore, this policy applies to all OU-COM students. Seasonal Influenza Vaccination: According to the CDC, seasonal influenza vaccine is recommended for health care personnel (HCP) and others who can transmit influenza to those at high risk. Healthy persons who are infected with influenza virus (including those with subclinical infection) can transmit influenza virus to persons at higher risk for complications from influenza. Healthy HCP and persons aged 2 to 49 years who are contacts of persons in these groups and who are not contacts of severely immunosuppressed persons should receive either Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) or Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (TIV) when indicated or requested. All other persons, including pregnant women, should receive TIV. The CDC specifies that all HCP and persons in training for health-care professions should be vaccinated annually against seasonal influenza. Persons working in health-care settings who should be vaccinated include physicians, nurses, and other workers in hospital and outpatient-care settings, medical emergency-response workers (e.g., paramedics and emergency medical technicians), employees of nursing home and long term care facilities who have contact with patients or residents, and students in these professions who will have contact with patients. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has recommended mandatory seasonal influenza vaccination for HCP, with a provision for declination of vaccination based on religious, philosophical or medical reasons. Because all OU-COM students have contact with patients in all four years of undergraduate medical education, OU-COM requires that all students be vaccinated against seasonal influenza annually. Seasonal influenza vaccination rates among students will be regularly measured and reported, including the date of vaccination, the type of vaccine given and by whom. When possible, pricing will be arranged to allow students to have affordable coverage rates. Signed declinations from students who refuse influenza vaccination for medical, religious or philosophical reasons will be obtained. Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccination: According to the CDC, seasonal influenza vaccines will not provide protection against novel influenza A (H1N1) virus. The H1N1 monovalent influenza vaccine is recommended for persons at higher risk for influenza or influenza-related complications, or those who are likely to come in contact with influenza viruses as part of their occupation and could transmit influenza viruses to others in medical settings. This includes HCP and emergency medical service personnel, defined by the CDC as all paid and unpaid persons working in health-care settings who have the potential for exposure to patients with influenza, infectious materials, including body substances, contaminated medical supplies and equipment, or contaminated environmental surfaces. HCP might include (but are not limited to) physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, therapists, technicians, emergency medical service personnel, dental personnel, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, autopsy personnel, students and trainees, contractual staff not employed by the health-care facility, and persons (e.g., clerical, dietary, housekeeping, maintenance, and volunteers) not directly involved in patient care but potentially exposed to infectious agents that can be transmitted to and from HCP. The recommendations in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dated 8/21/2009 apply to HCP in acute-care hospitals, nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, physicians’ offices, urgent care centers, and outpatient clinics, and to persons who provide home health care and emergency medical services. Emergency medical services personnel might include persons in an occupation (e.g., emergency medical technicians and fire fighters) who provide emergency medical care as part of their normal job duties.Because all OU-COM students have direct contact with patients in all four years of undergraduate medical education and the majority of students are in a higher-risk age group of 25-64 years of age, OU-COM requires that all students receive the CDC-recommended dosage of novel influenza A (H1N1) virus vaccine as soon as possible, before 1/15/10. Novel influenza (H1N1) A influenza vaccination rates among students will be regularly measured and reported, including the date of vaccination, the type of vaccine given and by whom. When possible, pricing will be arranged to allow students to have affordable coverage rates. Signed declinations from students who refuse influenza vaccination for medical, religious or philosophical reasons will be obtained from the Office of Academic Affairs (call 740-593-2183 to schedule an appointment with the Director of Predoctoral Education and the Assistant Dean of Preclinical Medicine).
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