Influenza Vaccine for Healthy Working Adults

To the Editor: Dr Bridges and colleagues¹ found that providing influenza vaccination to healthy working adults did not result in overall economic savings. These results are timely in light of the recent recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) calling for vaccination of all adults aged 50 years and older.²

To date, however, no information is available on the economic impact or the improvement in vaccine coverage that could result when the vaccine is offered in the workplace to the entire population of adult workers, including those with chronic conditions such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes, or immunosuppression. Persons with these conditions are at higher risk of complications from influenza, and influenza vaccination programs that specifically include such high-risk individuals may provide substantial economic benefits. Thus, the findings in the study by Bridges et al should not be automatically generalized to entire workplace populations, which typically include persons with high-risk conditions.