Educational lecture template (line manager)
Vaccine preventable diseases at
Insert HHS/facility name
Presenter: Insert presenter name
What are vaccine-preventable
diseases?
• A vaccine
preventable
disease (VPD) is
an infectious
disease for which
an effective
vaccine is
available.
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What are vaccine-preventable
diseases?
• VPDs may cause:
– Serious, life threatening illness and even
death
– Chronic (long lasting) impacts with ongoing
health problems
– Adverse pregnancy outcomes such as
miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects
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Vaccination
• A vaccine is a product often made from parts of killed
viruses or bacteria, or from live weakened strains of
viruses or bacteria.
• Vaccines usually induce an immune response to mimic
the body’s response to natural infection, but without the
harmful consequences of the infection itself.
• Immunity following vaccination generally lasts for months
to many years depending on the nature of the vaccine
and individual factors.
• Some vaccine courses require more than one dose.
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Transmission of VPDs
VPDs can be spread in a variety of ways depending on the
disease, such as:
• inhaling droplets expelled from an infected person when
they cough, sneeze, laugh or speak
• inhaling respiratory particles carried on air currents
• contact with infected blood and body fluids
• contact with fluid from vesicles (blisters)
• touching a surface that someone has contaminated and
then touching your own mucous membranes
• contact with something contaminated with faeces that is
transferred to another person’s mouth (faecal-oral route)
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Why is vaccination important for
staff?
Working in healthcare:
• ↑ risk of exposure to
VPDs
• ↑ risk of transmitting a
VPD to people at risk
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Why is vaccination important for
staff?
Vaccination protects you, your family, and
patients you have contact with.
Health professionals have a duty of care to
protect their patients.
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VPDs in healthcare
• All healthcare workers in
direct or indirect contact
with patients are
recommended to be
vaccinated against the
following:
– Measles
– Mumps
– Rubella
– Pertussis (whooping
cough)
– Influenza
– Varicella (chickenpox)
• In addition, healthcare
workers who have contact
with blood or body fluids
are recommended to be
vaccinated against:
– Hepatitis B
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VPDs in healthcare
• Apart from the standard group of
vaccinations, there are additional
vaccination recommendations for some
healthcare worker categories:
– Hepatitis A
– Japanese encephalitis
• Screening for tuberculosis should also be
undertaken for all healthcare workers
working in clinical areas
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Queensland Health Policy
• There is a requirement for prospective
workers for roles with VPD requirements
to provide evidence of vaccination or that
they are not susceptible.
• Evidence must be provided prior to offer of
employment / prior to execution of contract
• The requirement does not apply to existing
workers unless they apply for a role in
another Queensland Health entity.
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Line manager responsibilities
Step 1: Confirm that the role requires a VPD
vaccination check
• Check role description for specific VPD requirements
Step 2: Provide both the following forms to the
preferred applicant
They can choose which they complete.
• VPD evidence certification form (PDF 57kb)
– This form is to be completed by the applicant’s treating medical practitioner,
registered nurse or occupational health provider.
• VPD evidence form (PDF97kb)
– This form is completed by the applicant if they already have copies of acceptable
forms of evidence. Certified copies of the appropriate documents, as outlined on
the providing evidence page must be attached.
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Line manager responsibilities
Step 3: Review evidence forms
• Review completed VPD evidence form (and certified documents if
required) to ensure vaccination status meets requirements outlined
in role description.
Step 4: Confirmation
• HR Delegate confirms that VPD vaccination check has been
completed in selection report.
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Line manager responsibilities
• Vaccine preventable diseases evidence
requirements guide: Line manager’s guide
can be found here:
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/publications/employment/work-forus/dept-of-health/vpd-evidence-guide.pdf
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Evidence in detail
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Evidence: General
• Evidence must be provided as per the list of
acceptable evidence found in the policy and
guideline
• Evidence must be provided in English
• If the VPD Evidence Certification Form is
completed by the prospective worker’s health
practitioner for all required VPDs – this is all that
is required
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Evidence: Hepatitis B
 Evidence of 2 or 3 dose (as age
appropriate) course of hepatitis B vaccine
Vaccination record book with details of vaccine
given and clinic attended, or letter from a medical
practitioner, vaccine service provider or other
health professional acceptable to the HHS or the
Department with details of vaccine given.
OR
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Evidence: Hepatitis B
 A pathology testing result showing positive
anti-HBs (≥10 IU/mL)
The test may be written as:
• Hepatitis B surface antibody
• Anti-HBs
• HBsAb
Do not confuse this with other hepatitis B testing, for example; HBsAg,
anti-HBc, HBeAg, anti-HBe.
The result will be expressed as a number, or not detected. Any number
equal to or greater than 10 IU/mL (≥10IU/mL) indicates immunity. A result
less than 10 IU/mL (<10 IU/mL) is insufficient for employment, where
proof of a level ≥10IU/mL is required.
OR
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Evidence: Hepatitis B
 Letter from a medical practitioner, vaccine
service provider or other health professional,
acceptable to the HHS or the Department, with a
statement that the individual is not susceptible to
hepatitis B.
• Such a letter should be on practice/facility
letterhead, signed by the provider/practitioner,
and including their professional designation,
service provider number (if applicable) and
practice stamp.
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Evidence: Measles, Mumps and
Rubella
Evidence of 2 doses of MMR vaccine at least
one month apart
Minimum one dose pre offer of employment
Vaccination record book with details of vaccine
given and clinic attended, or letter from a medical
practitioner, vaccine service provider or other
health professional acceptable to the HHS or the
Department with details of vaccine given.
OR
Image: CDC, 1963. ID# 1150. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp
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Evidence: Measles, Mumps and
Rubella
A pathology testing result showing positive
IgG for measles and mumps and rubella.
Do not confuse this with IgM.
OR
Birth date before 1 January 1966
Image: CDC (1976). ID#4284. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp
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Evidence: Varicella
 Two doses of varicella vaccine at least one month
apart (evidence of one dose is sufficient if the
person was vaccinated before 14 years of age), or
a single dose of Zoster vaccine (for those aged 60
years or over).
Minimum one dose pre offer of employment
Vaccination record book with details of vaccine given and
clinic attended, or letter from a medical practitioner, vaccine
service provider or other health professional acceptable to the
HHS or the Department with details of vaccine given.
OR
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Evidence: Varicella
A pathology testing result showing positive IgG
for varicella.
Do not confuse this with IgM
OR
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Evidence: Varicella
Letter from a medical practitioner citing
documented evidence of previous physiciandiagnosed chickenpox or shingles with a
statement that the individual is not susceptible to
chickenpox.
Such a letter should be on practice/facility
letterhead, signed by the provider, and including
their professional designation, service provider
number and practice stamp.
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Evidence: Pertussis
One adult dose of diphtheria / tetanus / pertussis
vaccine (dTpa) within the past 10 years.
Vaccination record book with details of vaccine
given and clinic attended, or letter from a medical
practitioner, vaccine service provider or other
health professional acceptable to the HHS or the
Department with details of vaccine given.
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Evidence: Pertussis
• Please note: serology (blood test) is not
useful in determining immunity to
pertussis.
• Pathology results should not be accepted
as evidence of immunity to pertussis.
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Further information
Information about vaccines and VPDs can be found:
• Queensland Health Immunisation https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinicalpractice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/immunisation/default.asp
• Immunise Australia Program
http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Conten
t/home
• The Australian Immunisation Handbook
http://www.immunise.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/Conten
t/Handbook10-home
• National Centre for Immunisation Research & Surveillance webpage
http://www.ncirs.edu.au/
• World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/topics/immunization/en/
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html
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