Since 2009, Loyola has required mandatory flu shot for all employees, faculty, medical and nursing students and other allied groups who work or have clinical training at the Loyola's campus in Maywood and its suburban health centers. For the second consecutive year, more than 99 percent of those covered by the policy received vaccinations. Also, all visitors to Loyola with coughs are being asked to wear masks as are hospital employees who were medically exempt from Loyola's mandatory flu shot policy.

"Mandating flu shots for all our employees is absolutely the right thing to do," said Dr. Jorge Parada, director of infection prevention and control at LUHS. "The simple fact is that this is the profession that we have all chosen. The last thing we should be doing is putting our patients at risk when it is totally unnecessary. This is big safety issue."

As well as the spike in cases of the flu, Loyola and other hospitals are seeing a spike in the number of cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), an infection of the small airways of the lungs that's also known as bronchiolitis.

"RSV is one of those respiratory viruses that can produce flu-like symptoms," Parada said. "In adults, it's generally mild. In young children, especially babies and children with respiratory problems, it can be life threatening and those children require immediate medical attention."

Like the flu, RSV is highly contagious. It can be spread by physical contact with someone who is infected and through the air by coughing and sneezing. Basic hygiene like the washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing can help prevent the spread of both illnesses.

SOURCE Loyola University Health System