People who work in healthcare settings are at risk of exposure to serious and sometimes deadly diseases. If you work with patients or handle materials that could spread infections, you should receive vaccines, including yearly flu shots, to reduce the chance that you will get or spread preventable diseases.
Recommendations for Immunizations
The Snohomish County Health Department follows the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Recommendations for Immunization of Health Care Personnel. The recommendations may also apply to nursing students and others entering a health care field training program, as well as to lab technicians, pharmacists, and hospital volunteers.
Proof of protection to the following diseases is provided by documentation of receiving vaccine(s) or proof of immunity by the presence of specific antibodies found in the blood.
Risk
Diseases for which vaccines are recommended, dependent on occupational risk:
- Hepatitis B
- Influenza
- Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
- Meningococcal
- Pertussis
- Varicella
Health care and education institutions may require a tuberculosis screening to diagnose Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. There are two tests available.