Descriptive review and evaluation of the functioning of the International Health Regulations (IHR) Annex 2.

Background: The International Health Regulations (IHRs) (2005) was developed with the aim of governing international responses to public health risks and emergencies. The document requires all 194 World Health Organization (WHO) Member States to detect, assess, notify and report any potential public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under specific timelines. Annex 2 of the IHR outlines decision-making criteria for State-appointed National Focal Points (NFP) to report potential PHEICs to the WHO, and is a critical component to the effective functioning of the IHRs.

Influenza vaccination of health care workers in hospitals--a review of studies on attitudes and predictors.

Introduction: Immunization guidelines from many countries recommend influenza vaccination of health care workers (HCW). However, influenza vaccination rates among HCW are universally low. To aid in designing effective immunization programs we reviewed the literature for studies reporting on (1) self-reported reasons of HCW regarding vaccination against influenza and (2) predictive factors for influenza vaccination in HCW.