Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Clear Your Browser Cache

This website has recently undergone changes. Users finding unexpected concerns may care to clear their browser's cache to ensure a seamless experience.

Surveillance Snapshot: Influenza Immunization Among U.S. Armed Forces Health Care Workers, August 2018–April 2023

Image of 3Snapshot. Influenza Immunization Among U.S. Armed Forces Health Care Workers, August 2018-April 2023.

The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends vaccination for all health care personnel against influenza to protect both themselves and their patients.1 The Joint Commission’s standard for infection control emphasizes that individuals infected with influenza virus are contagious to others before any signs or symptoms appear. The Joint Commission mandates 90% influenza vaccination for health care personnel, and health care organizations provide influenza vaccination programs for their practitioners and staff. Within the Department of Defense, seasonal influenza immunization is mandatory for all uniformed and health care personnel who provide direct patient care, and is recommended for all others (excluding those medically exempt).2-5

This graph comprises three lines oriented on the horizontal, or x-, axis, each connecting five discrete data points oriented along the vertical, or y-, axis. These three lines represent the health care worker populations within the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force active components. The y axis of the graph charts the annual percent of those Armed Forces health care workers who received an influenza vaccination. The horizontal, or x-, axis demarcates the preceding five influenza seasons, which begin in August and conclude in April, from August 2018 through April 2023. Influenza vaccination rates among health care workers have remained above 91.0%, but declined steadily over the five years among Air Force personnel, from 97.0% to 93.7%; dropped within the last year from 95.5% to 92.8% among Navy personnel; Army rates were fairly consistent, and lower, than the other two services until declining to the absolute lowest rate, 92.0%, in 2021-2022 but the Army rebounded to its normal range of 93.8% in the 2022-2023 season.

This Surveillance Snapshot covers a 5-year surveillance period (August 2018–April 2023) and presents the documented percentage of compliance for the influenza immunization requirement among active component health care personnel of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. In general, these health care personnel include health care specialists (DOD occupation code=13) and health care officers (DOD ocupation code=26), but exclude veterinary medicine, environmental health, biomedical equipment maintenance and repair, and health services administration and logistics personnel. In the 2022-2023 influenza season, compliance rates ranged from 92.8% among Navy health care personnel to 93.8% among Army health care personnel (Figure).

References

  1. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Immunization of health-care personnel: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2011;60(RR-7):1-45.
  2. Headquarters, Departments of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Army Regulation 40-562, BUMEDINST 6230.15B, AFI 48-110_IP, CG COMD-TINST M6230.4G. Medical Services: Immunizations and Chemoprophylaxis for the Prevention of Infectious Diseases. Oct. 7, 2013.
  3. Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). Policy for Mandatory Seasonal Influenza Immunization for Civilian Health Care Personnel Who Provide Direct Patient Care in Department of Defense Military Treatment Facilities. Health Affairs Policy 08-005. Apr. 4, 2008.
  4. Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs). Addition of Pandemic Influenza Vaccine or Novel Influenza Vaccine to the Policy for Mandatory Seasonal Influenza Immunization for Civilian Health Care Personnel Who Provide Direct Patient Care in Department of Defense Military Treatment Facilities. Health Affairs Policy 11-010. Jul. 28, 2011.
  5. Defense Health Agency. Procedural Instruction 6025.34. Guidance for the DOD Influenza Vaccination Program. Aug. 21, 2020.

You also may be interested in...

Article
Jun 1, 2023

Absolute and Relative Morbidity Burdens Attributable to Various Illnesses and Injuries Among Active Component Members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2022

This annual summary uses several health care burden measures to quantify the impacts of various illnesses and injuries in 2022 among members of the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces. Health care burden metrics include the total number of medical encounters, individuals affected, and hospital bed days.

Article
Jun 1, 2023

Absolute and Relative Morbidity Burdens Attributable to Various Illnesses and Injuries Among Active Component Members, U.S. Coast Guard, 2022

This report employs the same disease classification system and health care burden measures as employed in the MSMR burden analysis of the U.S. Armed Forces active component to quantify the impacts of various illnesses and injuries among members of the active component of the U.S. Coast Guard in 2022.

Report
Jun 1, 2023

MSMR Vol. 30 No. 6 - June 2023

.PDF | 1.55 MB

This annual issue quantifies the impacts of various illnesses and injuries in 2022 among members of the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as the U.S. Coast Guard; health care burden metrics include the total number of medical encounters, including hospitalizations and ambulatory services, as well as numbers and types of individuals ...

Article
May 1, 2023

Enhanced Mpox Outbreak Case Detection Among MHS Beneficiaries Through Use of ESSENCE (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics)

A colorized scanning electron microscopic image of the mpox virus on the surface of infected VERO E6 cells

This report describes how ESSENCE, which collects near real-time biosurveillance data globally on U.S. military personnel, monitored the mpox outbreak in 2002 and assesses its detection of confirmed/probable cases among MHS beneficiaries. ESSENCE systematically queries millions of health encounters to detect records of potential public health ...

Article
May 1, 2023

Increasing Incidence Rates of Eosinophilic Esophagitis in Active Component Service Members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2009–2021

A respiratory therapist visualizes the vocal chords of a patient using an endoscopy tool

This study examines the incidence of eosinophilic esophagitis among the active component of the U.S. Armed Forces from 2009 to 2021. Reported prevalence has been increasing worldwide, with a recent meta-analysis estimating 34.2 cases per 100,000 persons.

Article
May 1, 2023

Portable RT-PCR and MinION Nanopore Sequencing as a Proof-of-Concept SARS-CoV-2 Biosurveillance in Wastewater

Wastewater treatment facility

This study reports on the efficacy of 2 different portable nucleic acid detection technologies, RT-PCR and MinION Mk1C nanopore sequencing, which identified SARS-CoV-2 variants in wastewater collected at Tyndall AFB during a 2-month surveillance. This highly multiplexed approach circumvented signal dropout associated with the detection of newly ...

Report
May 1, 2023

MSMR Vol. 30 No. 5 - May 2023

.PDF | 1023.59 KB

The May 2023 MSMR reintroduces a monthly reportable medical event (RME) summary for the active component and MHS beneficiaries; then features a review of enhanced mpox outbreak case detection among MHS beneficiaries through ESSENCE (Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics); followed by a report on ...

Article
Apr 1, 2023

Update: Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke Among Active Component Members of the U.S. Armed Forces, 2018–2022

Immediate recognition and response are necessary to prevent serious effects of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

This year's annual update on the incidence of heat illness among U.S. active duty service members presents the case counts and incidence rates of heat illnesses between 2018 and 2022, as well as the locations of heat illness case occurrences during this period. Heat stroke and heat exhaustion are summarized separately.

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search
Last Updated: December 01, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery