Sponsored by
Flu jab plea for poultry workers
Public health professionals in North Yorkshire are urging people who work with poultry to get their free flu vaccine from their GP. NHS North Yorkshire and York is making the seasonal flu vaccination free to those who work in close contact with poultry.
There are around 1,000 poultry farms or premises where poultry are kept across North Yorkshire. ‘Close contact’ means any of the following: spending a lot of time in areas where live poultry are kept for rearing or egg production purposes; handling live poultry; catching poultry in poultry houses; sorting eggs in hatcheries or poultry houses; cleaning poultry houses; collecting and removing poultry manure or litter from poultry houses; slaughtering poultry and removing the guts and other parts from dead poultry; cleaning and disinfecting live bird and evisceration areas in slaughter houses.
Dr Phil Kirby, associate director of public health at NHS North Yorkshire and York, said: “Offering the vaccine to people who work with poultry is a precautionary measure that is part of the national NHS immunisation programme.
“Working in close contact with poultry means that there is a slight risk of catching the virus that causes bird flu if an outbreak of bird flu were to occur. If poultry workers are also infected with human flu at the same time, the bird and human flu viruses could mix in the body to make a new flu virus.
“A new flu virus produced in this way could potentially be very infectious and cause serious illness in other people as they would not have any immunity to a new virus. “As poultry workers are considered ‘at risk’, we are making the seasonal flu vaccine freely available from GP practices. Therefore I would encourage all poultry workers in North Yorkshire to get the vaccine.
“The flu vaccine will protect against ordinary human flu - reducing the risk of a new virus emerging. The vaccine will not protect against bird flu and we strongly advise poultry workers to continue to follow infection control guidance in the work place.”
NHS North Yorkshire and York has negotiated a Local Enhanced Service (LES) with the North Yorkshire Local Medical Committee (YORLMC) for GPs to offer the seasonal influenza vaccine to poultry workers who work at poultry premises registered with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Driffield
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.