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
May 1, 2019

Absolute and relative morbidity burdens attributable to various illnesses and injuries, non-service member beneficiaries of the Military Health System, 2018

A senior airman of 366th Medical Support Squadron pediatric clinic checks vitals of the child of its service member at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force)

In 2018, mental health disorders accounted for the largest proportions of the morbidity and healthcare burdens that affected the pediatric and younger adult beneficiary age groups. Among adults aged 45–64 years, musculoskeletal diseases accounted for the most morbidity and health care burdens, and among adults aged 65 years or older, cardiovascular ...

Article
May 1, 2019

Morbidity burdens attributable to various illnesses and injuries, deployed active and reserve component service members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2018

A U.S. naval officer listens through his stethoscope to hear his patient’s lungs at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan in 2018. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps) photo by Lance Cpl. Cameron Parks)

Among service members deployed during 2018, injury/poisoning, musculoskeletal diseases, and signs/symptoms accounted for more than half of the total health care burden while deployed. Compared to the distribution of major burden of disease categories documented in garrison, a relatively greater proportion of in-theater medical encounters due to ...

Article
Apr 1, 2019

Incidence, Timing, and Seasonal Patterns of Heat Illnesses During U.S. Army Basic Combat Training, 2014–2018

U.S. Marines participate in morning physical training during a field exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. (Photo Courtesy: U.S. Marine Corps)

Risk factors for heat illnesses (HIs) among new soldiers include exercise intensity, environmental conditions at the time of exercise, a high body mass index, and conducting initial entry training during hot and humid weather when recruits are not yet acclimated to physical exertion in heat. This study used data from the Defense Health Agency’s ...

Article
Apr 1, 2019

Update: Heat Illness, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2018

Drink water the day before and during physical activity or if heat is going to become a factor. (Photo Courtesy: U.S. Air Force)

In 2018, there were 578 incident diagnoses of heat stroke and 2,214 incident diagnoses of heat exhaustion among active component service members. The overall crude incidence rates of heat stroke and heat exhaustion diagnoses were 0.45 cases and 1.71 cases per 1,000 person-years, respectively. In 2018, subgroup-specific rates of incident heat stroke ...

Article
Apr 1, 2019

Update: Exertional Rhabdomyolysis, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2014–2018

U.S. Marines sprint uphill during a field training exercise at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. to maintain contact with an aviation combat element, teaching and sustaining their proficiency in setting up and maintaining communication equipment.  (Photo Courtesy: U.S. Marine Corps)

Among active component service members in 2018, there were 545 incident diagnoses of rhabdomyolysis likely due to exertional rhabdomyolysis, for an unadjusted incidence rate of 42.0 cases per 100,000 person-years. Subgroup-specific rates in 2018 were highest among males, those less than 20 years old, Asian/Pacific Islander service members, Marine ...

Article
Apr 1, 2019

Modeling Lyme Disease Host Animal Habitat Suitability, West Point, New York

A deer basks in the morning sun at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas.  (Photo Courtesy: U.S. Air Force)

As the most frequently reported vector-borne disease among active component U.S. service members, with an incidence rate of 16 cases per 100,000 person-years in 2011, Lyme disease poses both a challenge to health care providers in the Military Health System and a threat to military readiness. Spread through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, ...

Article
Apr 1, 2019

Update: Exertional Hyponatremia, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2003–2018

Drink water the day before and during physical activity or if heat is going to become a factor. (Photo Courtesy: U.S. Air Force)

From 2003 through 2018, there were 1,579 incident diagnoses of exertional hyponatremia among active component service members, for a crude overall incidence rate of 7.2 cases per 100,000 person-years (p-yrs). Compared to their respective counterparts, females, those less than 20 years old, and recruit trainees had higher overall incidence rates of ...

Article
Mar 1, 2019

Brief Report: Male Infertility, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2013–2017

Sperm is the male reproductive cell  Photo: iStock

Infertility, defined as the inability to achieve a successful pregnancy after 1 year or more of unprotected sexual intercourse or therapeutic donor insemination, affects approximately 15% of all couples. Male infertility is diagnosed when, after testing both partners, reproductive problems have been found in the male. A male factor contributes in part ...

Article
Mar 1, 2019

Testosterone Replacement Therapy Use Among Active Component Service Men, 2017

Image of Marines carrying a wooden log for physical fitness. Click to open a larger version of the image.

This analysis summarizes the prevalence of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) during 2017 among active component service men by demographic and military characteristics. This analysis also determines the percentage of those receiving TRT in 2017 who had an indication for receiving TRT using the 2018 American Urological Association (AUA) clinical ...

Article
Mar 1, 2019

Sexually Transmitted Infections, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2010–2018

Anopheles merus

This report summarizes incidence rates of the 5 most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among active component service members of the U.S. Armed Forces during 2010–2018. Infections with chlamydia were the most common, followed in decreasing order of frequency by infections with genital human papillomavirus (HPV), gonorrhea, genital herpes ...

Article
Mar 1, 2019

Vasectomy and Vasectomy Reversals, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2000–2017

Sperm is the male reproductive cell  Photo: iStock

During 2000–2017, a total of 170,878 active component service members underwent a first-occurring vasectomy, for a crude overall incidence rate of 8.6 cases per 1,000 person-years (p-yrs). Among the men who underwent incident vasectomy, 2.2% had another vasectomy performed during the surveillance period. Compared to their respective counterparts, the ...

Article
Feb 1, 2019

Update: Malaria, U.S. Armed Forces, 2018

Anopheles merus

Malaria infection remains an important health threat to U.S. service mem­bers who are located in endemic areas because of long-term duty assign­ments, participation in shorter-term contingency operations, or personal travel. In 2018, a total of 58 service members were diagnosed with or reported to have malaria. This represents a 65.7% increase from ...

Article
Feb 1, 2019

Update: Incidence of Glaucoma Diagnoses, Active Component, U.S. Armed Forces, 2013–2017

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is an eye disease that involves progressive optic nerve damage and vision loss, leading to blindness if undetected or untreated. This report describes an analysis using the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify all active component service members with an incident diagnosis of glaucoma during the period between 2013 and 2017. The ...

Article
Feb 1, 2019

Re-evaluation of the MSMR Case Definition for Incident Cases of Malaria

Anopheles merus

The MSMR has been publishing the results of surveillance studies of malaria since 1995. The standard MSMR case definition uses Medical Event Reports and records of hospitalizations in counting cases of malaria. This report summarizes the performance of the standard MSMR case definition in estimating incident cases of malaria from 2015 through 2017. ...

Article
Feb 1, 2019

Outbreak of Acute Respiratory Illness Associated with Adenovirus Type 4 at the U.S. Naval Academy, 2016

Malaria case definition

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are known to cause respiratory illness outbreaks at basic military training (BMT) sites. HAdV type-4 and -7 vaccines are routinely administered at enlisted BMT sites, but not at military academies. During Aug.–Sept. 2016, U.S. Naval Academy clinical staff noted an increase in students presenting with acute respiratory ...

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