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Current U.S. guidelines suggest that employees of nursing homes who have contact with patients should be vaccinated against influenza. A randomized controlled trial from the U.K. provides evidence that such a policy is beneficial to patients.
Forty-four nursing homes were randomized to either control or intervention groups during two periods of influenza activity, one of moderate intensity (2003–2004) and one of low intensity (2004–2005). Staff members in the intervention homes were offered vaccination, while those in control homes were not; 48.2% of intervention-home staffers were actually vaccinated in 2003–2004 and 43.2% in 2004–2005, compared with 5.9% and 3.5% for the control homes. During the first period, residents in the intervention…