Workplace Vaccination against Influenza in Malaysia: Does the Employer Benefit?

Abstract

Demographic and health information, including influenza-like symptoms, sick leave and postvaccination adverse events were collected via questionnaires. Cost-benefit analyses were performed from the employer's perspective. Results: A total of 1,022 employees took part in the study, with 504 choosing to be vaccinated against influenza, and 518 remaining unvaccinated. The rate of influenza-like illness (ILI) was lower among vaccinated (8.13%) than non-vaccinated subjects (30.31%). Fever and respiratory symptoms were associated with all ILI cases. ILI-related sick leave was taken by 58.54% of vaccinated employees with ILI and 71.34% of nonvaccinated employees with ILI. Vaccination was financially beneficial, with the employer saving up to US$ 53.00 per vaccinated employee when labour costs only were considered. Savings rose to up to US$ 899.70 when the operating income of each employee was also considered. Workplace vaccination of healthy adults against influenza had a clear impact on ILI rates, absenteeism and reduced productivity in this Malaysian company. The health benefits translated into financial benefits for the employer, with cost savings significantly outweighing the costs of the vaccination programme. (J Occup Health 2006; 48: 1-10)

Economic evaluations of occupational health interventions from a corporate perspective – a systematic review of methodological quality

“…Mental health problems, although a significant cause of work disability, were only addressed in two studies (30,31). Table 2 provides a description of study populations, the intervention comparisons and (19,20,22,23,26,28,(31)(32)(33)(34), manufacturing (24,(35)(36)(37)(38), energy (21,(39)(40)(41), education (42,43), finance (44,45), government (27,46), transport (16,29), construction (18), defense (25), retail (17), telecommunications (47), and multiple sectors (30,48,49). With the exception of influenza, no single intervention was consistently evaluated in the other subgroups of studies addressing the same health problem.…”

A systematic review of occupational safety and health business cases

“…Six articles reported on three studies twice so we included each study only once which left us with 18 articles (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28). In one article, four cases were reported, in another three cases, and in one report, three cases were reported, resulting in 26 cases for use in the review (9,11,24,26,(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42) We excluded cases that: (i) did not concern occupational health but general health interventions such as case studies of influenza vaccination (43)(44)(45)(46)(47); (ii) did not include costs and benefits in monetary terms (48); (iii) did not include productivity measures (49); (iv) did not include the costs of the intervention (50); (v) were economic models only (51); or (vi) had calculated costs and benefits relative only to production (52).…”

Effectiveness of Worksite Interventions to Increase Influenza Vaccination Rates Among Employees and Families

“…6 Vaccination has reduced the incidence of influenza-like illness (ILI) among diverse employee populations, including those in the petrochemical, banking, and airline industries. [7][8][9] Vaccination can reduce absenteeism and presenteeism 10,11 and has a proven return on investment ($15 to $50 saved per worker vaccinated). 11,12 Among healthy workers, vaccination can reduce the incidence of upper respiratory illness by 25%, sick days by 43%, and medical visits by 44%.…”