Almost a quarter of nursing staff in the Netherlands say they don't want to be vaccinated against Mexican (swine) flu. That's apparent from the response of 600 visitors to a poll on the website www.nursing.nl.
 

Just over half (53.5 percent) of the respondents said they would have a vaccination. But almost a quarter (24.6 percent) answered 'no' and the remaining 21.9 percent said they hadn't made up their minds. The poll didn't ask those who said 'no' to give their reasons.

Medical experts are predicting that there will be a large-scale outbreak of Mexican flu in the Netherlands this autumn, and the government wants medical staff to be among the first to receive vaccinations to minimise the risk of absenteeism affecting patient care in hospitals and other health institutions.