LONDON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Healthcare workers in England have been blamed for making the country's flu epidemic worse by refusing to get flu shots, officials said.
The Times of London reported Saturday that fewer than one in seven of the National Health Service's front-line workers have been vaccinated against the flu despite a recommendation to do so.
The newspaper said some British hospitals suffered serious flu outbreaks, made worse by staff transmission of the highly contagious virus. At Royal Liverpool University Hospital, for instance, nearly 100 patients caught the flu.
"The only way to boost the effectiveness of the flu vaccine is to immunize the people who are delivering the care -- in hospitals, nursing homes, residential homes and (general practioners') surgeries," said Dr. George Kassianos, immunization spokesman for the Royal College. "We are now so hot on infections such as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), so why are we not on influenza? You are placing patients' lives at risk if you give them the flu."
The newspaper noted that a government study last year found that most National Health Service staff did not view the flu as a serious illness and thought the vaccine unnecessary.
