Influenza and Beyond: Responding to Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

syringeOverview

It’s flu season again. How many adults will be immunized this year? Not enough, and this answer has public health leaders concerned.

Each year, approximately 114,000 people in the United States are hospitalized because of influenza, and an average of 36,000 are expected to die from this vaccine-preventable disease. The cost of treating influenza and other vaccine-preventable diseases exceeds $10 billion each year.

The key to reducing the burden of these diseases is increasing immunization rates, especially for vulnerable groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities and seniors, who are difficult to reach. Through community partnerships, innovative education and immunization programs can be tailored to meet the needs of each group, because as we have learned, one message does not fit all.

Join us in identifying the best practices of Chicago’s public health leaders and their community partners in protecting their citizens against influenza and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Goal

This program seeks to identify best practices for improving adult immunization rates.

Objectives

  • Describe the effectiveness of current vaccines.
  • Describe three barriers to adult immunizations.
  • Identify three strategies to improve the rate of adult immunizations.
  • Describe the Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Immunization Initiative (READII).

Audience

Public health leaders and professionals from local and state government agencies, hospitals, clinics, boards of health, community-based health organizations, academic institutions, federal agencies, and others who seek to learn more about the public health response to vaccine-preventable diseases.