Recently, those working in health care have been tracked for influenza vaccine. A study recently shows that this tracking can bring more compliance to getting the flu vaccine which will allow for a more healthy environment for patients who visit these healthcare facilities. An automated system tracks those who have not been vaccinated and sends out warning and updates to inform those people. Susan Wang, the author of the study stated that this system, “ reduced the administrative burden of the mandatory vaccination program.” The automated system that aids in tracking the staff that have or have not been vaccinated was developed by researches in the Epidemiology and Infection Prevention Program at the University of California Irvine Health System. Along with the reminders and alerts about receiving the vaccine and the deadline, the system also allows supervisors to view the vaccine status of those working under them. The study showed that the system was responsible for the 98% of the 7,000 individuals who were included in the policy who received the vaccine. There were only 130 people who received a written warning, and 5 who were removed from the schedule until they had received their vaccine. The system attributes to the health status of the environment and also helped cut overtime hours of those who administer the vaccines. This system was able to ensure a healthy environment for patients and staff, and reduce time and resources involved with the administration of the influenza vaccine.

This article relates to human health because it actually requires health care personnel to obtain aninfluenza vaccine. The system allows for documentation of those who have received a vaccine and sends out reminders to those who still need to receive a vaccine. This, in turn, led to more compliance and people to more quickly get their vaccines. As a result, the spread of influenza has been reduced in these healthcare facilities because the staff are required to get the vaccine and are not allowed to continue working if they have not received a vaccine after the deadline. The patients who now go into these facilities have a healthy environment, as do all the staff who work together. With the advancement of this automated system, comes the prevention of the spread of influenza.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-10/sfhe-ati102214.php