Dr Charles Helms

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Fulbright Senior Scholar

Media profile

Are the world's health care workers (HCWs) adequately protected against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs)? Evidence suggests they are not and hospital outbreaks of VPDs in unprotected HCWs and patients have been reported worldwide. The potential for hospital-spread of influenza during a pandemic has raised international concern about the problem.

Dr Charles Helms is a Professor in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa and Medical Director of Clinical Quality, Safety and Performance Improvement at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics . Dr Helms has won a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to Australia and will undertake research at the University of Sydney to assess the impact of the policy of mandatory HCW vaccination that was implemented in New South Wales.

Vaccination rates of HCWs are frequently and disturbingly low and contrast with those of the general public. Thus while an estimated 60-78% of adults 65 years old or greater in U.S. states had received influenza vaccine from 2002-04; only an estimated 36% of U.S. HCW’s took advantage of this recommended vaccine in 2002. The experience of Australia is consistent with the global experience of low influenza vaccination rates of HCWs.

“In New South Wales, Australia, a Health Policy Directive implemented in 2006 by NSW Health is uniquely addressing an important international problem: how best to assure protection of health care workers against vaccine preventable diseases through vaccination”, explains Dr Helms. “In the U.S., this occupational issue has been recognized for many years as related to influenza vaccination. Voluntary influenza immunization programs for U.S. HCWs have not historically resulted in, or sustained adequate improvement of low HCW influenza vaccination rates.”

Dr Helms will assess the process of implementation and early impact of the policy by interviewing involved policy-makers/stakeholders and reviewing available public data.

“The NSW Directive is bold in that it has mandatory, not voluntary vaccination provisions. These provisions are designed to enhance the occupational safety of HCWs through screening and vaccination against VPDs. Patient safety should also benefit, of course, as transmission of VPDs by unvaccinated HCWs in the health care environment should be reduced.”

“For these and other reasons, the progress of the NSW policy experiment will be of great interest, not only to Australians, but also to U.S. and international public health and public policy experts, health providers and HCWs.”

Dr Helms is a graduate of the University of Rochester and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He has served in several national health policy leadership roles: as member/chair of the IDSA Public Policy Committee (1987-97), member/chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (1992-96; 2002-06), and as a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (1997-2002).