Influenza and pneumococcal immunization in medical clinics, 1978-1980.

In 1978 to 1979, the General Medicine Clinic (GMC) immunization program at the University of Chicago immunized 54% of 1,543 high-risk patients with influenza vaccine. In 1979 to 1980, 45% of 1,462 high-risk patients were immunized, including 72% of the patients who had been immunized the year before. Many patients who were immunized were initially undecided or did not want the vaccine. In 1978 to 1980, pneumococcal vaccine was given to 784 GMC patients, including 24% of 2,229 high-risk patients seen at least once during the two immunization program periods. Twenty-two patients (2.8%) were inadvertently reimmunized. The GMC programs were approximately seven to ten times more effective in immunizing patients than were physicians in medical subspecialty clinics without such programs. Since many patients hospitalized with influenza and pneumonia have recently received care in hospitals, organized programs for immunization in hospitals could make a substantial contribution to the prevention of these diseases.