Medical Healthcare Workers Research Articles

A behavioural & social sciences core curriculum for Egyptian undergraduate medical education at the Armed Forces College of Medicine.

Introduction: Medical practice is a highly emotionally and behaviorally demanding occupation. Thus, the design of teaching and learning programs in medical colleges need to be modified to adapt such need. Behavioral and social sciences must be implemented to develop competent medical health care workers. Educational programs in Egyptian medical schools are undergoing a gradual shift toward integration, student-centeredness, and early clinical exposure. The Psychiatry Department & Medical Education Department at the Armed Forces College of Medicine in Egypt in collaboration with the Medical Education Department at Michigan state university; developed behavioral & Social science curriculum by adopting ADDIE’s basic five-step model, which includes Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation processes. The identified curriculum has been split into three divisions: social topics related to behavioral medicine, basic psychology, and clinical medicine related to behavioral science. Twenty-six topics were included in these three divisions and were distributed in the seven selected core competencies. The working team expects to include more sociocultural and anthropology topics in the curriculum in the future. Additionally, it is hoped that more time will be allocated for this module, so it would be more possible to include other teaching & assessment methods for developing global understanding of disorders, and practical skills for behavior modification, as well as, encourage students to consider actual treatment strategies in clinical case scenarios. It is also hoped that students could get the chance for early exposure to hospital-based cases. This will motivate the students by allowing them to come into contact with various real-life settings. Context: Medical practice is a highly emotionally and behaviorally demanding occupation. Thus, the design of teaching and learning programs in medical colleges need to be modified to adapt such need. Behavioral and social sciences must be implemented to develop competent medical health care workers. Educational programs in Egyptian medical schools are undergoing a gradual shift toward integration, student-centeredness, and early clinical exposure

Psychological Stress Risk Factors, Concerns and Mental Health Support Among Health Care Workers in Vietnam During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak.

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly affected health care workers (HCWs), including their mental health. However, there has been limited evidence on this topic in the Vietnamese context. Therefore, this study aimed to explore COVID-19-related, psychological stress risk factors among HCWs, their concerns and demands for mental health support during the pandemic period.Methods: We employed a cross-sectional study design with convenience sampling. An online, self-administered questionnaire was used and distributed through social media among medical and non-medical HCWs from April 22 to May 12, 2020. HCWs were categorized either as frontline or non-frontline. We measured the prevalence of psychological stress using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) instrument. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with psychological stress among HCWs.Results: Among the 774 enrolled participants, 761 (98.3%) eligible subjects were included in the analysis. Most respondents were females (58.2%), between 31 and 40 years of age (37.1%), lived in areas where confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported (61.9%), medical HCWs (59.9%) and practiced being at the frontline (46.3%). The prevalence of stress was 34.3%. We identified significant risk factors such as being frontline HCWs (odds ratio [OR] = 1.77 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–2.67]), perceiving worse well-being as compared to those before the COVID-19 outbreak [OR = 4.06 (95% CI: 2.15–7.67)], and experiencing chronic diseases [OR = 1.67 (95% CI: (1.01–2.77)]. Majority (73.9%) were concerned about testing positive for COVID-19 and exposing the infection to their families. Web-based psychological interventions that could provide knowledge on managing mental distress and consulting services were highly demanded among HCWs.Conclusion: The prevalence of psychological stress among HCWs in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic was high. There were also significant risk factors associated with it. Psychological interventions involving web-based consulting services are highly recommended to provide mental health support among HCWs.

Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chinese Health Care Workers: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

BackgroundThe outbreak of COVID-19 has dominated headlines worldwide. The number of infections has continued to rise and had reached 30,000 worldwide at the time this paper was written. Because of the high risk of nosocomial transmission, medical health care workers may be experiencing substantial psychological stress. This descriptive study aimed to identify psychosocial effects on hospital staff associated with working in a hospital environment during the COVID-19 outbreak.ObjectiveOur survey participants included 57 frontline clinicians working at Wuhan First Hospital and 157 medical students working at Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital during the COVID-19 outbreak. The questionnaire we adopted included questions regarding the participants’ personal well-being, sociodemographic characteristics, and psychological status.Methods57 frontline clinicians working in Wuhan First Hospital and 157 medical training students working in Jiangsu Provincial Peoples Hospital during this outbreak participated in our survey. The questionnaire we adopted included questions regarding the participants’ personal well-being, sociodemographic characteristics and the psychological status.ResultsThe COVID-19 outbreak had psychological impacts both on formal workers and medical students. The psychological effects included sleep disorders, anxiety, and depression. There was no significant difference between the group of formal workers and medical students (P=.85), and more than 50% (30/54, 56%, vs. 83/157, 52.9%) of the respondents reported pandemic-related mental disorders.ConclusionsOur study indicates that the high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure caused substantial psychological stress among health care workers. This finding emphasizes the need to promote psychological crisis intervention for medical personnel during this epidemic.

Seroprevalence and seroconversion rates to SARS-CoV-2 in interns, residents, and medical doctors in a University Hospital in Bogotá, Colombia

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 and the incidence of seroconversion in the first month of follow-up among interns, residents, and medical doctors attending patients at a University Hospital in Bogota (Colombia). Design or methods: A cross-sectional and a prospective study were performed during June, July, and August 2020 to assess seroprevalence and seroconversión rates using CLIA IgG for SARS-CoV-2. LFA IgG and IgM and ELFA IgM were also determined to explore concordance with CLIA IgG. Results: At baseline, 8 (2.28% 95%CI 1.16-4.43%) participants were IgG positive for SARS-CoV-2 by CLIA. At the end of the study, 21 (5.98% 95%CI 3.94-8.97%) individuals seroconverted by CLIA IgG. In all, 29 individuals had IgG by CLIA and of these 11 (3.13% 95%CI 1.76-5.52%) were asymptomatic. No associations with risk factors for infection were identified. CLIA IgG had moderate concordance (>962 samples) with LFA IgG and ELFA IgM, but minimal with LFA IgM. Conclusions: Our report is the first in Latina America on seroprevalence and seroconversion rates in medical healthcare workers. The relatively high rate (>3%) of asymptomatic health care workers with evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection underscores the need to screen this population for infection to prevent infection/disease spread.

In situ Observations of Porcine Ocular Surface Cells with Handheld 2K-pixel Microscope

Introduction: To present our findings of the porcine ocular surface that were obtained with an ultra-compact hand-held microscope that weighs less than 500 g, we examined the corneal epithelial cells with this hand-held microscope. Methods: This device is equipped with an automatic focusing mechanism that enabled us to observe living cells in macro to micro magnifications with a series of operations. The focus is semi-automatically adjusted by the infrared and ultrasonic distance sensor. The instrument has a commercially-available microscope objective lens of 20x or 40x magnification and has a high-resolution 2K Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) camera. The theoretical spatial resolution is around 300 nm with a higher Numerical Aperture (high-NA) lenses. The widefield reflectance-based imaging system is equipped with three-color visible Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for use in bright environments and an infrared LED for dark environments. Ten normal and two injured porcine corneas were examined with this hand-held microscope. Results: Our observations showed that the corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells could be continuously observed. The epithelial cells of the central cornea, limbus, and conjunctiva were clearly seen. The epithelial cells on the injured corneal surface were also easily and clearly observed. Conclusion: This hand-held microscopic imaging device allows medical health care workers such as ophthalmologists and endoscopists to obtain real-time in vivo optical biopsies without collecting tissues and cells. Our system enables us to observe single cells in the superficial layers without any fluorescein or other dyes.

Anxiety, Depression, and Resilience of Healthcare Workers in Japan During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak.

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is spreading around the world. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of anxiety, depression, resilience, and other psychiatric symptoms among healthcare workers in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This survey involved medical healthcare workers at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center (Tokyo, Japan) between April 22 and May 15, 2020. The degree of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and resilience was assessed using the Japanese versions of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Furthermore, we added original questionnaires comprising three factors: (i) anxiety and fear of infection and death; (ii) isolation and unreasonable treatment; and (iii) motivation and escape behavior at work. Results In total, 848 healthcare workers participated in this survey: 104 doctors, 461 nurses, 184 other co-medical staff, and 99 office workers. Among all participants, 85 (10.0%) developed moderate-to-severe anxiety disorder, and 237 (27.9%) developed depression. Problems with anxiety and fear of infection and death, isolation and unreasonable treatment, and motivation and escape from work were higher in the depression group than in the non-depression group (total CES-D score ≥ 16 points). Being a nurse and high total GAD-7 scores were risk factors of depression. Older workers and those with higher resilience were less likely to develop depression than others. Conclusion During the COVID-19 epidemic, many healthcare workers suffered from psychiatric symptoms. Psychological support and interventions for protecting the mental health of them are needed.

The psychiatric effects of COVID-19 thus far: a review of the current literature

The novel COVID-19 pandemic is affecting hundreds of countries with increasing cases and deaths. Global social distancing, quarantines, travel restrictions, and cancelations of schools and large gatherings have been instituted to decrease viral spread. This has sparked perpetual worldwide fear, panic, anxiety, depression, and distress along with concern for suicide, grief, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), guilt, and long term mental health disorders. In this paper, we review current literature in PubMed regarding psychiatric effects of COVID-19 on varying populations and what long term mental health effects warrant consideration. In the general public, significant anxiety (6.33-35.1%) is focused largely on family members and loved ones potentially contracting COVID-19; this fear is associated with female gender, student status, and various age groups, and is exacerbated by social media, self-quarantine, increased time thinking about COVID-19, and misinformation. Self-reported depression ranges from 16.5-48.3%. Other potential at risk populations include pregnant women, parents, children, the elderly, and patients with pre-existing mental health disorders. COVID-19 has driven suicide and exacerbated obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Medical healthcare workers have increased anxiety, depression, distress, and low sleep quality, with frontline female nurses reporting the most symptoms. Patients with COVID-19 have a high prevalence of PTSD, depression, and low quality of life. PTSD, depression, grief, and guilt are of long term concern. Overall, future and continued studies exploring the psychiatric effects of COVID-19 worldwide are critical in understanding and treating affected populations.
 Key words: Psychiatric, COVID-19 and mental health symptoms, anxiety, depression, suicide, grief, and PTSD

Infection prevention and control of bedside blood purification treatment in patients with COVID-19

To explore the infection prevention and control strategy of bedside blood purification treatment in corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) isolation ward, and to evaluate the effect of infection prevention and control management measures. We summarized and analyzed the clinical features, infection status, outcome and infection prevention and control measures of bedside blood purification treatment patients in COVID-19 isolation ward from February 8, 2020 to March 31, 2020, analyzed the COVID-19 cross-infection between the patients and medical staffs, and the blood-borne pathogens cross-infection situation between the patients, and analyzed the effect of bundle prevention and control measures in controlling the occurrence and spread of cross-infection. A total of 101 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in this COVID-19 isolation ward, of whom 10 patients (9.90%) received bedside blood purification treatment and the blood purification treatment method was continuous hemodialysis filtration (CVVHDF), and the 10 patients received 79 times of blood purification treatment in total. The prevention and control management measures adopted included divisional isolation, patient behavior isolation and patient placement, operator personal protection and hand hygiene, dialysis waste fluid disposal, isolation room air purification, object surfaces, medical devices and medical fabrics dis-infection management. There were no occurrence and spread of COVID-19 in the medical healthcare workers and blood-borne pathogens cross-infection in the patients. And all the twice throat swabs (two sampling interval > 1 day) of the medical staffs in COVID-19 virus nucleic acid test were negative. The 2 suspected COVID-19 patients' throat swab virus nucleic acid test and the COVID-19 IgG, IgM were always both negative, the chest CT showed no viral pneumonia. Bedside blood purification treatment in the COVID-19 isolation ward, the occurrence and spread of healthcare associated infection can be effectively controlled through effective infection prevention and control management, including divisional isolation, patient behavior isolation and patient placement, operator personal protection and hand hygiene, dialysis waste fluid disposal, isolation room's air purification, object surfaces, medical devices and medical fabrics disinfection, which can provide experience for diagnosis, treatment and prevention and control of patients in the respiratory infectious disease ward.

Prevalence of Hepatitis B Core Antibody in Medical Health care Workers in Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria

Prevalence of Hepatitis B Core Antibody in Medical Health care Workers in Nnewi, Anambra state, Nigeria

Sentinel surveillance strategies for early detection of coronavirus disease in fever clinics: experience from China.

Sentinel surveillance system plays a key role in screening and monitoring emerging and acute infectious diseases in order to identify the suspected cases in time. During SARS period in 2003, fever clinics emerged in many cities in mainland China with the purpose to screen the suspected SARS patients and to transfer the confirmed cases to designated hospitals for professional management. Shanghai city has reserved the fever clinics and the designated hospitals since then. Hence, clinicians in the front line are able to respond quickly to the emerging COVID-19 outbreak with their accumulated knowledge and experiences from the past. One hundred seventeen fever clinics distributed in various district areas in Shanghai have played a vital 'sentinel' role to fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Most of suspected patients were identified in fever clinics and thereafter among these suspected patients the COVID-19 cases were confirmed and were isolated quickly to avoid the spread. We would like to share the sentinel roadmap for screening and diagnosis of COVID-19 to medical healthcare workers around the world, especially countries who are facing great challenges to cope with COVID-19 and meanwhile with limited medical resources. These sentinel surveillance strategies will certainly provide insight into the early detection and timely isolation of suspected cases from the others.

THE NEW PARADIGM OF MEDICAL ENGLISH TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL

Currently practised methods of medical English instruction at tertiary education level often focus on medical terminology embedded in the English language classes. These strategies which comprise medical terminology and simple dialogues do not meet the needs of highly qualified medical health care workers (doctors, nurses, paramedics and many others). The new paradigm claims that medical English should be taught from the perspective of medicine and health care first and reinforced by the vocabulary acquisition; first – teach the students standards of medical practice (anatomy, pharmacology, physiology, medical sciences. and behavioural/ethical procedures), later on – concentrate on medical communication (see: M. Hull, 2004). The following paper concentrates on both formerly mentioned parameters; and also includes student and teacher motivation. Further, language acquisition as well as language learning are discussed. The new paradigm is defined as a combination of academic preparation which comprises cognitive and behavioural approaches that appear to be secondary to the context of the given class. Students are encouraged to search for synonyms, abbreviations and alternative ways of expressing meaning to communicate with each other. They also prepare their own multimedia presentations in the group and deliver speeches on subjects contained in curriculum. Concluding, the author of this paper expresses the opinion that foundational underpinnings of the curriculum of the Medical English course should be linked to the parameters for the health care professions. Context of the classes needs to be relevant to the work of the health professionals (according to Pratt and others, 2002). Over the last 10 years the paradigm for medical English teaching in North America and West European countries has changed enormously and has started to pave its new way at tertiary education level in Poland as well, which is presented briefly in this paper and – hopefully will continue to develop according to the newly occurring phenomena.

'Googling' anaphylaxis.

Anaphylaxis is a systemic allergic reaction and without the appropriate treatment can progress fast and may be fatal. Information about allergy and immunology topics including anaphylaxis can be easily found online and are widely searched by patients as well as medical personnel. Social media and search engines not only bring a number of benefits to users but also carry risks for breaches of confidentiality and privacy, unprofessional behaviour, malpractice and litigation. Social media use by medical healthcare workers has liability risks and can result in malpractice. We used PubMed with the terms anaphylaxis; social network; mobile apps that revealed a very small number of publications addressing the use of these platforms and anaphylaxis. Google Trends and KWFinder were used to analyse the relative search interest and absolute search volumes on 'anaphylaxis'. Multiple sources exist on the Internet for health-related searches for both healthcare providers and patients. We analysed different websites, mobile apps, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. To avoid any posting of patient identifiers, it is imperative to be aware of the 18 HIPAA identifiers. We list websites with accurate information about anaphylaxis for the use of both patients and healthcare professionals for purposes of patient education. Further research on health information-seeking behaviour is clearly needed.

HIV-Related Discrimination among Senior Dental Students in Jeddah.

Aims and Objectives:Advances in the medical management of HIV infection have increased life expectancy and reduced the mortality rate of infected individuals. As a result, dental and medical health-care workers have a higher chance to meet HIV-positive patients in their clinics. People living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) are frequently experiencing discrimination. That negative attitude toward HIV remains quite common among health-care professionals. The purpose of this study was to assess students’ attitudes toward PLWHA.Materials and Methods:The present study was a cross-sectional survey to assess the attitudes of senior dental students toward HIV/AIDS in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using an online self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using the statistical package of social sciences. Descriptive statistics including means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages were calculated and used to present the data. A binary logistic regression model was constructed to estimate the effect of different predictors on the level of HIV-related discrimination.Results:A total of 400 individuals took part in the study. Bivariate analysis of HIV discrimination in relation to other variables showed that those reluctant to treat HIV patients, the majority (82%) showed a negative tendency toward HIV/AIDS patients, while 75% who were willing to treat them exhibited more positive attitudes, which was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). The discrimination was high, almost 87%, among those who feared accidental exposure to HIV patients; however, 73% of those who did not experience fear, felt nondiscriminative, which was also statistically significant (P < 0.0001).Conclusions:Stigmatizing views toward PLWHA exist among senior dental students in Jeddah. The most significant predictors of discrimination included fear of accidental exposure, reluctance to provide treatment to these patients, and self-protective concerns.

Knowledge about oral leukoplakia for use at different levels of expertise, including patients.

The purpose of this contribution is to discuss how the subject of oral leukoplakia might be communicated among the various healthcare workers and also among patients. The discussion is based on the available literature and on many decades of clinical and histopathological experience of the author. The literature does not contain guidelines on what level of expertise can be expected from the various dental and medical healthcare workers in the field of oral leukoplakia, nor on how to communicate this disorder with patients. Based on personal experience, a number of suggestions have been proposed to overcome this shortcoming. Knowledge about oral leukoplakia varies among the various healthcare workers, depending on their level of expertise. Communication on this subject with patients should be in easy to understand wording, avoiding professional terminology as much as possible.

Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound Awareness among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

US is vital for the health care of women SSA countries still have low level of awareness of this tool among women There is limited information in SSA and most studies focus on prenatal US Many factors such as level of education cost of purchasing and training in US low level of development government policies training of medical health care workers insufficient infrastructures are all seen to influence the knowledge of SSA women on US This knowledge gap motivated the writing of this editorial whose main aim was to assess US awareness among SSA women with hopes that its outcome would positively influence policies in SSA countries on US use among Women

Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound Awareness among Women in Cameroon

Ultrasonography also known as Ultrasound is vital for the health care of women Most women in Cameroon are still ignorant of the value of this tool especially those in rural areas Many factors such as level of education cost of purchasing and training Sonographers low level of development government policies training of medical health care workers insufficient infrastructures are all seen to influence the knowledge of Cameroon women on Ultrasound US This knowledge gap motivated the writing of this opinion paper whose main aim is to document on the ultrasound awareness among Cameroon women with hopes that its outcome would positively influence policies in Cameroon regarding the health care of women

Role of methyl prednisolone in reducing mortality and morbidity in hair dye poisoning

Background: Hair dye containing paraphenylenediamine (PPD) is widely used in India because of its free availability and low cost. PPD produces local as well as systemic toxic effects when applied topically and/or ingested. This study was undertaken to find the role of methyl prednisolone in reducing mortality and morbidity in hair poisoning and to study the cardiac complications of hair dye poisoning.Methods: The present study was carried out among 1000 cases admitted in the Department of Medicine, MLB Medical College, Jhansi with history/characteristic and clinical features of hair dye poisoning. The complication and mortality profile was studied. Statistical significance was drawn with the help of Microsoft excel 2003.Results: Mortality in acute hair dye poisoning cases was 23.20%. Majority of deaths (50.04%) occurred within 24 hours of hair dye ingestion and were because of asphyxia and respiratory failure. Mortality in 44.96% cases was after 24 hours and were mainly due to renal failure and its related complications hyperkalaemia and cardiac complication. Lower mortality was observed in group A (8.40%) as compared to group B (8.0%) and C (4.0%) in association with ST and T wave changes.Conclusions: PPD is available quite freely and used extensively. Awareness regarding its poisonous effects should be increased among the medical health care workers.

Students' perceptions of the instructional quality of district hospital-based training.

BackgroundAn innovative, three-year training programme, the Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice (BCMP), for mid-level medical healthcare workers was started in 2009 by the Department of Family Medicine, University of Pretoria.AimTo measure the students’ perceptions of the instructional quality of district hospital-based training.SettingTraining of students took place at clinical learning centres in rural district hospitals in the Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces.MethodsA survey using the MedEd IQ questionnaire was performed in 2010 and 2011 to measure BCMP second- and third-year students’ perceptions of instructional quality of district hospital-based training. The MedEd IQ questionnaire is composed of four subscales: preceptor activities, learning opportunities, learner involvement and the learning environment. Composite scores of instructional quality were used to present results.ResultsThe preceptor activities, learning opportunities and the learning environment were considered by second- and third-year BCMP students to be of consistently high instructional quality. In the area of learner involvement, instructional quality increased significantly from second to third year.ConclusionOverall, instructional quality of district hospital-based training was high for both second- and third-year BCMP students, and the instructional quality of learner involvement being significantly higher in third year students. The MedEd IQ tool was a useful tool for measuring instructional quality and to inform programme quality improvement.

Long-term effects of a multidisciplinary transition intervention from paediatric to adult care in patients with epilepsy

PurposeTo evaluate the long-term effects of a multidisciplinary transition intervention compared to the impact of patient-related intrinsic factors on the improvement in medical and psychosocial outcome. MethodsAll patients who visited our multidisciplinary Epilepsy Transition Clinic between March 2012 and September 2014 were invited to participate (n=114). Patients were sent one questionnaire and informed consent was obtained. Questions included the patient's level of functioning on three transitional domains and a list with medical health care workers. Previously defined scores on three transitional domains and the risk profile score were re-evaluated. Past and current patient characteristics were compared using descriptive statistics. Discriminant analyses were used to determine the influence of patient-related intrinsic factors (defined as the risk factors from our previous study) and a multidisciplinary transition intervention on the improvement of medical and psychosocial outcome. ResultsSixty-six out of 114 invited participants (57.9%) completed the questionnaire. Discriminant analyses showed that the patient-related intrinsic factors combined proved a strong predictor for improvement in medical outcome (72.7%) and relatively strong for educational/vocational outcome (51.5%). The transition interventions are a relative strong predictor of improvement in medical outcome (56.1%), educational/vocational outcome (53.0%) and improvement in the overall risk score (54.5%). ConclusionBased on the overall improvement of psychosocial outcome in most patients, and the influence of a transition intervention on medical, educational/vocational outcome and the overall risk score, it is likely that adolescents with epilepsy benefit from visiting a multidisciplinary epilepsy transition clinic.

Couverture vaccinale du personnel hospitalier du service d’urgences et de réanimation pédiatriques de l’hôpital Édouard-Herriot de Lyon en 2007, concernant la grippe, la coqueluche, la varicelle et la rougeole

The aim of this study was to determine the vaccination coverage among the medical and paramedical health care workers of the pediatric intensive care and emergency department of Edouard Herriot hospital in Lyon, with respect to influenza, pertussis, varicella, and measles, 4 diseases with air transmission and vaccination recommendations. During February and March 2007, a questionnaire was given by hand to 123 health care workers by a medical student working there or available in the intensive care unit. The response rate to the questionnaire was 68.3%. The vaccination coverage against influenza was 42.8%; men and medical health care workers were better vaccinated. With respect to vaccination against pertussis, one third had received an injection in adulthood, adults under age 30 and medical health care workers were better vaccinated, but the difference was not statistically significant. Ten health care workers were not vaccinated and had no history of measles: only 1 had had a measles serology and none were vaccinated. Eleven had no history of varicella: 6 had had a varicella serology and none were vaccinated. Vaccination coverage against influenza is higher than what has been reported in the literature, possibly because of a mobile vaccination campaign against influenza made during winter 2006 in this pediatric department. Vaccination coverage against pertussis is encouraging and probably the consequence of an awareness of the gravity of the disease among infants. Individual information is necessary for health care workers on the nosocomial risk for influenza and pertussis in infants, and vaccination must be proposed. Serology against varicella and measles is compulsory for all health care workers with no history and no vaccination against these 2 diseases, to track and vaccinate the nonimmunized personnel. Occupational physicians have a very important role to play in meeting this goal.