A study by researchers in Beaumont shows that just 30% of staff in a northside Dublin hospital used the vaccine, with uptake increasing with age.
The authors say that some flu-related deaths in Irish hospitals could be avoided if the vaccine uptake among the medical staff was better.
They recommend a campaign to encourage more medical staff to protect themselves against the bug. This would include giving vaccines to staff in cafeterias or other meeting areas.
Others would be targeted through articles in hospital bulletins, payslip flyers, e-mails and poster displays.
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“We believe that convincing senior clinicians, and particularly physicians, as leaders of their respective services, is fundamental to leading health organisations to increase healthcare workers’ vaccination rates,” says the study.
“Positive attitudes to vaccination seem more important than knowledge of influenza in achieving higher uptake by healthcare workers.”
Although two-thirds of staff agreed that the vaccine is effective in protecting against the flu, those who did not take it said it was because they had concerns over its safety and possible side-effects.
Almost 17% had planned to take the vaccine but never did, while a further 16% did not believe themselves to be at risk of getting flu. A further 14% failed to see its effectiveness.
The researchers found the level of protection of patients and staff in the hospital to be below the recommended levels for healthcare workers.
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“Poor influenza vaccine uptake among healthcare workers is an ongoing problem which has been described in many studies,” they said.
“This is despite government and professional recommendations, as well as evidence of reduced mortality and morbidity of elderly residents of nursing homes when their carers are vaccinated against influenza.”
The study, published in the Irish Medical Journal, was carried out by the Department of Occupational Health in Beaumont. The hospital studied has more than 3,000 staff.
While the average uptake was 30%, researchers said that the number of staff not taking a vaccine could be under-represented because previous figures from 2003 showed 16.2%.
Doctors, clerical and catering/household staff had shown a higher uptake and nurse respondents had reported a 22% uptake.